# 家事事件手続法 / Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act — 第十八条 (Article 18) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/domestic-relations-case-procedure-act/art-18. 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: 家事事件手続法 (Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act), 平成二十三年法律第五十二号 - English title "Domestic Relations Case Procedure 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: 第十八条 (Article 18)（未成年者及び成年被後見人の法定代理人） — address `art-18` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/domestic-relations-case-procedure-act/art-18 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/423AC0000000052/art-18 - 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. --- ### 第十八条（未成年者及び成年被後見人の法定代理人） — (Legal Representative of Minors and Adults under Guardianship) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-18 · https://japanlaw.org/en/domestic-relations-case-procedure-act/art-18 · https://japanlaw.org/l/423AC0000000052/art-18 **第一項** 親権を行う者又は後見人は、第百十八条（この法律の他の規定において準用する場合を含む。）又は第二百五十二条第一項の規定により未成年者又は成年被後見人が法定代理人によらずに自ら手続行為をすることができる場合であっても、未成年者又は成年被後見人を代理して手続行為をすることができる。ただし、家事審判及び家事調停の申立ては、民法（明治二十九年法律第八十九号）その他の法令の規定により親権を行う者又は後見人が申立てをすることができる場合（人事訴訟法第二条に規定する人事に関する訴え（離婚及び離縁の訴えを除く。）を提起することができる事項についての家事調停の申立てにあっては、同法その他の法令の規定によりその訴えを提起することができる場合を含む。）に限る。 art-18/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/domestic-relations-case-procedure-act/art-18/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/423AC0000000052/art-18/par-1 A person who exercises parental authority or a guardian may participate in proceedings on behalf of a minor or an adult under guardianship even when the minor or adult under guardianship may personally participate in proceedings, not through the legal representative of the minor or adult under guardianship, pursuant to the provisions of Article 118 (including the cases where applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to other provisions of this Act) or Article 252, paragraph (1); provided, however, that a person who exercises parental authority or a guardian may file a petition for adjudication of domestic relations or mediation of domestic relations only when such a person or guardian may file a petition pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Code (Act No. 89 of 1896) or other laws and regulations (with regard to a petition for mediation of domestic relations regarding a matter against which an action concerning personal status as prescribed in Article 2 of the Personal Status Litigation Act (excluding an action for divorce and an action for the dissolution of an adoptive relationship) may be filed, including cases where the person or guardian may file the action pursuant to the provisions of the Act or other laws and regulations). Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "A person who exercises parental authority or a guardian may participate in proceedings on behalf of a minor or an adult under guardianship even when the minor or adult under guardianship may personally participate in proceedings, not through the legal representative of the minor or adult under guardianship, pursuant to the provisions of Article 118 (including the cases where applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to other provisions of this Act) or Article 252, paragraph (1); provided, however, that a person who exercises parental authority or a guardian may file a petition for adjudication of domestic relations or conciliation of domestic relations only when such a person or guardian may file a petition pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Code (Act No. 89 of 1896) or other laws and regulations (with regard to a petition for conciliation of domestic relations regarding a matter against which an action concerning personal status as prescribed in Article 2 of the Personal Status Litigation Act (excluding an action for divorce and an action for the dissolution of an adoptive relationship) may be filed, including cases where the person or guardian may file the action pursuant to the provisions of the Act or other laws and regulations)." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4512/tb --- ## Cites - art-18/par-1: 第百十八条 → 家事事件手続法 第百十八条 (Article 118), art-118 — https://japanlaw.org/en/domestic-relations-case-procedure-act/art-118 · https://japanlaw.org/l/423AC0000000052/art-118 - art-18/par-1: 第二百五十二条第一項 → 家事事件手続法 第二百五十二条第一項 (Article 252, paragraph (1)), art-252/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/domestic-relations-case-procedure-act/art-252/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/423AC0000000052/art-252/par-1 - art-18/par-1: 人事訴訟法第二条 → 人事訴訟法 第二条 (Article 2), art-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-status-litigation-act/art-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000109/art-2 ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 家事事件手続法 第二百五十二条第二項（手続行為能力） — https://japanlaw.org/en/domestic-relations-case-procedure-act/art-252/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/423AC0000000052/art-252/par-2 --- ## Sources - claude-opus-5-5 — Corrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of paragraphs, written 2026-11-05 - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 家事事件手続法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/423AC0000000052/20260624_508AC0000000045), retrieved 2026-11-05 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act (家事事件手続法), Article 18, paragraph (1) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4512/tb), retrieved 2026-11-05 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4512/tb), retrieved 2026-11-05 - This site's parser, version 225 — 家事事件手続法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-11-05