# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第三十七条の四 (Article 37-4) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37-4. 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: 第三十七条の四 (Article 37-4) — address `art-37-4` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37-4 - 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. --- ### 第三十七条の四 art-37-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37-4 **第一項** 裁判官は、被疑者に対して勾留状が発せられ、かつ、これに弁護人がない場合において、精神上の障害その他の事由により弁護人を必要とするかどうかを判断することが困難である疑いがある被疑者について必要があると認めるときは、職権で弁護人を付することができる。ただし、被疑者が釈放された場合は、この限りでない。 art-37-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37-4/par-1 If a detention warrant has been issued against a suspect and the suspect has no defense counsel, a judge may appoint a defense counsel ex officio when finding it necessary with regard to the suspect who is suspected of having difficulty in judging whether or not the defense counsel is required due to mental disability or any other grounds; provided, however, that this does not apply when the suspect is released. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 刑事訴訟法 第三十七条の五第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37-5/par-1 --- ## 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