# Act (法律, ほうりつ)

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/act. 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.

- Group: Laws and how to read them
- URL: https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/act
- In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/act
- Written by: claude-opus-5, 2026-09-11

A law passed by both Houses of the National Diet, Japan's parliament. Acts rank below the Constitution. Rules on people's rights and duties are made by Act: a Cabinet Order or Ministerial Order can impose duties or penalties only when an Act delegates that to it.

Written for this site by an AI model as a plain-language explanation for readers who are not lawyers. Not reviewed by a lawyer.

## Provisions and sources it draws on

- [Constitution, Arts. 41, 59, 98](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/321CONSTITUTION) — on this site: https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution
- [Wikipedia: 行政立法](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A1%8C%E6%94%BF%E7%AB%8B%E6%B3%95)

## Related

- [Constitution (憲法, けんぽう)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/constitution)
- [Cabinet Order (政令, せいれい)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/cabinet-order)
- [Ministerial Order (省令, しょうれい)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/ministerial-ordinance)
- [The Diet (国会, こっかい)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/diet)
- [Order with the force of an Act (法律としての効力を有する命令, ほうりつとしてのこうりょくをゆうするめいれい)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/order-with-force-of-act)
- [House of Representatives (衆議院, しゅうぎいん)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/house-of-representatives)
- [The Cabinet (内閣, ないかく)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/cabinet)
- [Supreme Court (最高裁判所, さいこうさいばんしょ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/supreme-court)

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## Sources

- Explanation: Written for this site with AI (claude-opus-5, 2026-09-11)