# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第三百十六条の四 (Article 316-4)

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- 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: 第三百十六条の四 (Article 316-4) — address `art-316-4`
- Text in force since: 2026-10-20
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-316-4
- 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.

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### 第三百十六条の四
<sup>art-316-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-316-4</sup>

        **第一項**  公判前整理手続においては、被告人に弁護人がなければその手続を行うことができない。
        <sup>art-316-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-316-4/par-1</sup>
        A pretrial arrangement proceeding may not be conducted when there is no defense counsel for the defendant.
        <sup>Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "A pretrial arrangement proceeding may not be conducted when there is no defense counsel for the accused." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb</sup>

        **第二項**  公判前整理手続において被告人に弁護人がないときは、裁判長は、職権で弁護人を付さなければならない。
        <sup>art-316-4/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-316-4/par-2</sup>
        If there is no defense counsel for the defendant in a pretrial arrangement proceeding, the presiding judge must appoint defense counsel ex officio.
        <sup>Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "If there is no defense counsel for the accused in a pretrial arrangement proceeding, the presiding judge must appoint defense counsel ex officio." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb</sup>

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## 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 316-4, 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 316-4, 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