# 民事訴訟法 / Code of Civil Procedure — 第二百五十一条 (Article 251)

- 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: 第二百五十一条 (Article 251)（言渡期日） — address `art-251`
- Text in force since: 2026-06-24
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-251
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-251
- 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.

---

### 第二百五十一条（言渡期日） — (Date for Rendition of Judgment)
<sup>caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>
<sup>art-251 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-251 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-251</sup>

  **第一項**  判決の言渡しは、口頭弁論の終結の日から二月以内にしなければならない。ただし、事件が複雑であるときその他特別の事情があるときは、この限りでない。
  <sup>art-251/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-251/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-251/par-1</sup>
  The court must render a judgment within two months of the date on which oral arguments conclude; provided, however, that this does not apply if the case is complex or there are any other special circumstances.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **第二項**  判決の言渡しは、当事者が在廷しない場合においても、することができる。
  <sup>art-251/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-251/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-251/par-2</sup>
  The court may render a judgment even if the parties are not present in court.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

---

## 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