# 会社法 / Companies Act — 第五百八十一条 (Article 581) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-581. 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: 会社法 (Companies Act), 平成十七年法律第八十六号 - English title "Companies Act": 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: 第五百八十一条 (Article 581)（社員の抗弁） — address `art-581` - Text in force since: 2026-08-12 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-581 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-581 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs 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. --- ### 第五百八十一条（社員の抗弁） — (Members' Defenses) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-581 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-581 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-581 **第一項** 社員が持分会社の債務を弁済する責任を負う場合には、社員は、持分会社が主張することができる抗弁をもって当該持分会社の債権者に対抗することができる。 art-581/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-581/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-581/par-1 If members are liable for the performance of the obligations of a membership company, the members may assert defenses against the creditors of relevant membership company that the membership company may raise against creditors. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 前項に規定する場合において、持分会社がその債権者に対して相殺権、取消権又は解除権を有するときは、これらの権利の行使によって持分会社がその債務を免れるべき限度において、社員は、当該債権者に対して債務の履行を拒むことができる。 art-581/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-581/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-581/par-2 In the cases provided for in the preceding paragraph, if a membership company has a right to set-off, right to rescind or right to terminate against its creditors, the members may refuse the performance of obligations to relevant creditors, up to the amount of the membership company's obligations that are to be released as a result of the exercise of those rights. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-581/par-2: 前項 → 会社法 第五百八十一条第一項 (Article 581, paragraph (1)), art-581/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-581/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-581/par-1 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 会社法 第五百八十一条第二項（社員の抗弁） — https://japanlaw.org/en/companies-act/art-581/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-581/par-2 - 社会保険労務士法 第二十五条の二十五第一項（一般社団法人及び一般財団法人に関する法律及び会社法の準用等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/labor-and-social-security-attorney-act/art-25-25/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/343AC1000000089/art-25-25/par-1 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 会社法 — the text in force from 2026-08-12 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/417AC0000000086/20260812_508AC0000000064), retrieved 2026-09-17 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Companies Act — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4481/tb), retrieved 2026-09-17 - This site's parser, version 223 — 会社法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-09-17