# 民事訴訟法 / Code of Civil Procedure — 第二百四十九条 (Article 249)

- Law: 民事訴訟法 (Code of Civil Procedure), 平成八年法律第百九号
- English title "Code of Civil Procedure": Ministry of Justice translation
- Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say.
- Provision: 第二百四十九条 (Article 249)（直接主義） — address `art-249`
- Text in force since: 2026-06-24
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-249
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-249
- Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it.
- Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below.

Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text
below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and
says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this
site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names.
They are never merged and never substituted for one another.

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### 第二百四十九条（直接主義） — (Principle of Directness)
<sup>caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>
<sup>art-249 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-249 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-249</sup>

  **第一項**  判決は、その基本となる口頭弁論に関与した裁判官がする。
  <sup>art-249/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-249/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-249/par-1</sup>
  Judgment is rendered by a judge who has participated in the oral arguments that form the basis for that judgment.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **第二項**  裁判官が代わった場合には、当事者は、従前の口頭弁論の結果を陳述しなければならない。
  <sup>art-249/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-249/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-249/par-2</sup>
  If a judge has been replaced, the parties must state the results of prior oral arguments.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **第三項**  単独の裁判官が代わった場合又は合議体の裁判官の過半数が代わった場合において、その前に尋問をした証人について、当事者が更に尋問の申出をしたときは、裁判所は、その尋問をしなければならない。
  <sup>art-249/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-249/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-249/par-3</sup>
  If a single, independent judge or the majority of a panel of judges has been replaced and a party requests that a witness who was examined before the replacement be examined again, the court must examine the witness.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

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## Sources

- e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 民事訴訟法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/408AC0000000109/20260624_508AC0000000046), retrieved 2026-10-17
- Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Code of Civil Procedure — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4797/tb), retrieved 2026-10-17
- This site's parser, version 209 — 民事訴訟法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-17