# Supreme Court (最高裁判所, さいこうさいばんしょ) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/supreme-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/supreme-court - In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/supreme-court - Written by: claude-opus-5, 2026-09-16 The highest court, and the court of last resort on whether any law, order, regulation or official act conforms to the Constitution (Article 76, paragraph (1), and Article 81). That power is what makes the Constitution enforceable: there is no penalty attached to breaching it, and instead a conflicting rule is held to have no legal force (Article 98, paragraph (1)). Its judges are reviewed by the people at the first general election after appointment, and again after ten further years (Article 79, paragraph (2)). 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. 76, 79, 81, 98](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/321CONSTITUTION) — on this site: https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution - [Wikipedia: Supreme Court of Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Japan) ## Where the laws use it 7 laws in force use it in this sense, in 26 provisions; there the word opens this explanation. - [Code of Civil Procedure (民事訴訟法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure): 10 provisions, among them [Article 311](https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-311), [Article 317](https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-317), [Article 318](https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure/art-318) - [The Constitution of Japan (日本国憲法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution): 6 provisions, among them [Article 6](https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-6), [Article 76](https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-76), [Article 77](https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-77) - [Civil Mediation Act (民事調停法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act): 5 provisions, among them [Article 8](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act/art-8), [Article 10](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act/art-10), [Article 23](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act/art-23) - [Civil Enforcement Act (民事執行法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-enforcement-act): 2 provisions, among them [Article 19-2](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-enforcement-act/art-19-2), [Article 115](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-enforcement-act/art-115) - [Bankruptcy Act (破産法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act): 1 provision, among them [Article 8-4](https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-8-4) - [Employment Security Act (職業安定法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/employment-security-act): 1 provision, among them [Article 62](https://japanlaw.org/en/employment-security-act/art-62) - [Act on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims (配偶者からの暴力の防止及び被害者の保護等に関する法律)](https://japanlaw.org/en/spousal-violence-act): 1 provision, among them [Article 14-4](https://japanlaw.org/en/spousal-violence-act/art-14-4) ## Related - [Act (法律, ほうりつ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/act) - [Constitution (憲法, けんぽう)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/constitution) - [House of Representatives (衆議院, しゅうぎいん)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/house-of-representatives) - [Summary court (簡易裁判所, かんいさいばんしょ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/summary-court) - [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) - [Service (送達, そうたつ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/service-of-documents) --- ## Sources - Explanation: Written for this site with AI (claude-opus-5, 2026-09-16) - 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 (7 records)