# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第百五十八条 (Article 158) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158. 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: 第百五十八条 (Article 158) — address `art-158` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158 - 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. --- ### 第百五十八条 art-158 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158 **第一項** 裁判所は、証人の重要性、年齢、職業、健康状態その他の事情と事案の軽重とを考慮した上、検察官及び被告人又は弁護人の意見を聴き、必要と認めるときは、裁判所外にこれを召喚し、又はその現在場所でこれを尋問することができる。 art-158/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158/par-1 The court may, after hearing the opinions of the public prosecutor and the defendant or the defense counsel, and when the court deems it to be necessary, taking into account the importance of the witness, said witness's age, occupation, physical condition and other circumstances and the gravity of the factual background, summon a witness for examination to a place outside of the court or examine said person at said person's present location. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "The court may, after hearing the opinions of the public prosecutor and the accused or the defense counsel, and when the court deems it to be necessary, taking into account the importance of the witness, said witness's age, occupation, physical condition and other circumstances and the gravity of the factual background, summon a witness for examination to a place outside of the court or examine said person at said person's present location." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **第二項** 前項の場合には、裁判所は、あらかじめ、検察官、被告人及び弁護人に、尋問事項を知る機会を与えなければならない。 art-158/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158/par-2 In the case prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the court must give the public prosecutor, the defendant and the defense counsel an opportunity to know in advance of the particulars to be examined. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "In the case prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the court must give the public prosecutor, the accused and the defense counsel an opportunity to know in advance of the particulars to be examined." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **第三項** 検察官、被告人又は弁護人は、前項の尋問事項に附加して、必要な事項の尋問を請求することができる。 art-158/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158/par-3 The public prosecutor and the defendant or the defense counsel may request the court to examine other necessary particulars in addition to the particulars for examination prescribed in the preceding paragraph. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "The public prosecutor and the accused or the defense counsel may request the court to examine other necessary particulars in addition to the particulars for examination prescribed in the preceding paragraph." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb --- ## Cites - art-158/par-2: 前項 → 刑事訴訟法 第百五十八条第一項 (Article 158, paragraph (1)), art-158/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158/par-1 - art-158/par-3: 前項 → 刑事訴訟法 第百五十八条第二項 (Article 158, paragraph (2)), art-158/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158/par-2 ## Cited by 6 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 不正競争防止法 第二十六条第二項（公判期日外の証人尋問等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/art-26/par-2 (e-Gov law ID 405AC0000000047) - 刑事訴訟法 第百五十八条第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158/par-2 - 刑事訴訟法 第百五十八条第三項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158/par-3 - 刑事訴訟法 第百五十九条第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159/par-1 - 刑事訴訟法 第百六十三条第五項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-163/par-5 - 刑事訴訟法 第二百八十一条第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-281/par-1 --- ## Sources - claude-opus-5-5 — Corrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of the Code of Criminal Procedure, written 2026-11-06 - 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 (刑事訴訟法), Article 158, paragraph (1) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb), retrieved 2026-11-06 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), Article 158, paragraph (2) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb), retrieved 2026-11-06 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), Article 158, paragraph (3) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb), 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