# Summary court (簡易裁判所, かんいさいばんしょ) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/summary-court. 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: Institutions, offices and documents - URL: https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/summary-court - In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/summary-court - Written by: claude-opus-5-5, 2026-09-29 One of the four kinds of lower court (下級裁判所) beneath the Supreme Court, with the high courts (高等裁判所), the district courts (地方裁判所) and the family courts (家庭裁判所) (Courts Act, Article 1, and Article 2, paragraph (1)). A summary court has jurisdiction at first instance over civil claims whose value does not exceed 1.4 million yen, other than claims in administrative cases, and over criminal cases for offences punishable by no more than a fine or for which a fine is one of the penalties the law allows, among others (Article 33, paragraph (1)). A petition for court mediation goes, unless a special rule says otherwise, to the summary court for the place where the other party lives or has its business office or other office, or to a district court or summary court the parties agree on (Civil Mediation Act, Article 3, paragraph (1)). Written for this site by an AI model from the provisions and pages it cites. Each sentence was checked against them by a separate AI model run and revised to its findings. Not reviewed by a lawyer. ## Provisions and sources it draws on - [Courts Act, Arts. 1, 2, 33](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/322AC0000000059) - [Civil Mediation Act, Art. 3](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/326AC1000000222) — on this site: https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act ## Where the laws use it 13 laws in force use it in this sense, in 54 provisions; there the word opens this explanation. - [Code of Civil Procedure (民事訴訟法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure): 24 provisions, among them [Article 6](https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-6), [Article 16](https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-16), [Article 18](https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-18) - [Civil Mediation Act (民事調停法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act): 8 provisions, among them [Article 3](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act/art-3), [Article 4](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act/art-4), [Article 23-4](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act/art-23-4) - [Civil Enforcement Act (民事執行法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-enforcement-act): 4 provisions, among them [Article 33](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-enforcement-act/art-33), [Article 167-2](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-enforcement-act/art-167-2), [Article 167-3](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-enforcement-act/art-167-3) - [Unfair Competition Prevention Act (不正競争防止法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act): 2 provisions, among them [Supplementary Provisions, Article 2](https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/suppl-4151-46/art-2), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 3](https://japanlaw.org/en/unfair-competition-prevention-act/suppl-4161-120/art-3) - [Residential Basic Book Act (住民基本台帳法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/residential-basic-book-act): 2 provisions, among them [Article 53](https://japanlaw.org/en/residential-basic-book-act/art-53), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 10](https://japanlaw.org/en/residential-basic-book-act/suppl-4211-77/art-10) - [Act on Land and Building Leases (借地借家法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/land-and-building-leases-act): 2 provisions, among them [Article 41](https://japanlaw.org/en/land-and-building-leases-act/art-41), [Article 44](https://japanlaw.org/en/land-and-building-leases-act/art-44) - [Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (出入国管理及び難民認定法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act): 2 provisions, among them [Article 31](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act/art-31), [Article 37-5](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act/art-37-5) - [Act on General Rules for National Taxes (国税通則法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/national-tax-general-rules-act): 2 provisions, among them [Article 132](https://japanlaw.org/en/national-tax-general-rules-act/art-132), [Article 147](https://japanlaw.org/en/national-tax-general-rules-act/art-147) - [Local Tax Act (地方税法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/local-tax-act): 2 provisions, among them [Article 22-4](https://japanlaw.org/en/local-tax-act/art-22-4), [Article 22-19](https://japanlaw.org/en/local-tax-act/art-22-19) - [Copyright Act (著作権法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/copyright-act): 2 provisions, among them [Supplementary Provisions](https://japanlaw.org/en/copyright-act/suppl-4121-56), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 3](https://japanlaw.org/en/copyright-act/suppl-4161-120/art-3) - [Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (金融商品取引法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act): 2 provisions, among them [Article 211](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act/art-211), [Article 222-3](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act/art-222-3) - [Family Register Act (戸籍法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act): 1 provision, among them [Article 140](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act/art-140) - [Civil Code (民法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code): 1 provision, among them [Article 98](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-98) ## Related - [Supreme Court (最高裁判所, さいこうさいばんしょ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/supreme-court) - [Fine (罰金, ばっきん)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/criminal-fine) - [Judicial settlement (裁判上の和解, さいばんじょうのわかい)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/judicial-settlement) - [Oral argument (口頭弁論, こうとうべんろん)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/oral-argument) - [Appeal to the court of second instance (控訴, こうそ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/second-instance-appeal) - [Final appeal (上告, じょうこく)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/final-appeal) - [Small claims action (少額訴訟, しょうがくそしょう)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/small-claims-action) - [Litigation representative (訴訟代理人, そしょうだいりにん)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/litigation-representative) --- ## Sources - Explanation: Written for this site with AI (claude-opus-5-5, 2026-09-29) - Where it is used, and how often: Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text - English names of the laws: Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of Justice (13 records)