# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第百五十九条 (Article 159) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159. 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: 第百五十九条 (Article 159) — address `art-159` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159 - 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. --- ### 第百五十九条 art-159 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159 **第一項** 裁判所は、検察官、被告人又は弁護人が前条の証人尋問に立ち会わなかつたときは、立ち会わなかつた者に、証人の供述の内容を知る機会を与えなければならない。 art-159/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159/par-1 The court must, when the public prosecutor, the defendant or the defense counsel was absent from the examination prescribed in the preceding Article, give said person an opportunity to know of the details of the testimony of the witness. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "The court must, when the public prosecutor, the accused or the defense counsel was absent from the examination prescribed in the preceding Article, give said person an opportunity to know of the details of the testimony of the witness." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **第二項** 前項の証人の供述が被告人に予期しなかつた著しい不利益なものである場合には、被告人又は弁護人は、更に必要な事項の尋問を請求することができる。 art-159/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159/par-2 When the testimony of the witness prescribed in the preceding paragraph is unexpected and extremely disadvantageous to the defendant, the defendant or the defense counsel may request the court to examine other necessary additional particulars. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "When the testimony of the witness prescribed in the preceding paragraph is unexpected and extremely disadvantageous to the accused, the accused or the defense counsel may request the court to examine other necessary additional particulars." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **第三項** 裁判所は、前項の請求を理由がないものと認めるときは、これを却下することができる。 art-159/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159/par-3 If the request prescribed in the preceding paragraph is deemed to be without good reason, the court may dismiss said request. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-159/par-1: 前条 → 刑事訴訟法 第百五十八条 (Article 158), art-158 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-158 - art-159/par-2: 前項 → 刑事訴訟法 第百五十九条第一項 (Article 159, paragraph (1)), art-159/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159/par-1 - art-159/par-3: 前項 → 刑事訴訟法 第百五十九条第二項 (Article 159, paragraph (2)), art-159/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159/par-2 ## Cited by 4 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 第百五十九条第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159/par-2 - 刑事訴訟法 第百五十九条第三項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-159/par-3 - 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 --- ## 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 159, 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 159, 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 — 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