# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第二百七十一条 (Article 271) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-271. 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: 第二百七十一条 (Article 271) — address `art-271` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-271 - 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. --- ### 第二百七十一条 art-271 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-271 **第一項** 裁判所は、公訴の提起があつたときは、遅滞なく起訴状の謄本を被告人に送達しなければならない。 art-271/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-271/par-1 The court must, when prosecution has been instituted, serve a transcript of the charging sheet on the defendant without delay. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "The court must, when prosecution has been instituted, serve a transcript of the charging sheet on the accused without delay." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **第二項** 公訴の提起があつた日から二箇月以内に起訴状の謄本が送達されないときは、公訴の提起は、さかのぼつてその効力を失う。 art-271/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-271/par-2 When the transcript of the charging sheet is not served on the defendant within two months after the date of institution of prosecution, the institution of prosecution loses its effect retroactively. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "When the transcript of the charging sheet is not served on the accused within two months after the date of institution of prosecution, the institution of prosecution loses its effect retroactively." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb ## Cited by 4 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 刑事訴訟法 第二百七十一条の二第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-271-2/par-1 - 刑事訴訟法 第二百七十一条の二第四項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-271-2/par-4 - 刑事訴訟法 第三百三十九条第一項第一号 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-339/par-1/item-1 - 刑事訴訟法 第四百六十三条第五項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-463/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 271, 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 271, 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