# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第百五十七条の三 (Article 157-3) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-3. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp. - Law: 刑事訴訟法 (Code of Criminal Procedure), 昭和二十三年法律第百三十一号 - English title "Code of Criminal 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: 第百五十七条の三 (Article 157-3) — address `art-157-3` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-3 - e-Gov law ID: 323AC0000000131 — never renamed. A permanent link, `/l/{lawId}/{address}` on this site, redirects to the page. - Every provision below carries its address and its URL 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. --- ### 第百五十七条の三 art-157-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-3 **第一項** 検察官は、証人が刑事訴追を受け、又は有罪判決を受けるおそれのある事項について証言を拒んだと認める場合であつて、当該事項についての証言の重要性、関係する犯罪の軽重及び情状その他の事情を考慮し、必要と認めるときは、裁判所に対し、それ以後の当該証人尋問を前条第一項各号に掲げる条件により行うことを請求することができる。 art-157-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-3/par-1 When a public prosecutor finds that a witness has refused to give testimony on matters that may lead to the witness's criminal prosecution or conviction and finds it necessary taking into account the importance of testimony on those matters, the gravity and circumstances of the crime concerned and other circumstances, the public prosecutor may request that the court should examine the witness under the conditions set forth in items of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article after that point. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 裁判所は、前項の請求を受けたときは、その証人が証言を拒んでいないと認められる場合又はその証人に尋問すべき事項に証人が刑事訴追を受け、若しくは有罪判決を受けるおそれのある事項が含まれないと明らかに認められる場合を除き、それ以後の当該証人尋問を前条第一項各号に掲げる条件により行う旨の決定をするものとする。 art-157-3/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-3/par-2 Upon request under the preceding paragraph, the court shall render a ruling to the effect that the witness will be examined under the conditions set forth in items of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article after that point, except when it is found that the witness has not refused to give testimony or it is clearly found that any matter that may lead to the witness's criminal prosecution or conviction is not included in the matters with regard to which the witness is to be examined. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-157-3/par-1: 前条第一項 → 刑事訴訟法 第百五十七条の二第一項 (Article 157-2, paragraph (1)), art-157-2/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-2/par-1 - art-157-3/par-2: 前項 → 刑事訴訟法 第百五十七条の三第一項 (Article 157-3, paragraph (1)), art-157-3/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-3/par-1 - art-157-3/par-2: 前条第一項 → 刑事訴訟法 第百五十七条の二第一項 (Article 157-2, paragraph (1)), art-157-2/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-2/par-1 ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 刑事訴訟法 第百五十七条の三第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-3/par-2 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 刑事訴訟法 — the text in force from 2026-10-20 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/323AC0000000131/20261020_508AC0000000067), retrieved 2026-11-06 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Code of Criminal Procedure — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb), retrieved 2026-11-06 - This site's parser, version 225 — 刑事訴訟法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-11-06