# 少年法 / Juveniles Act — 第二十一条 (Article 21) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/juvenile-act/art-21. 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: 少年法 (Juveniles Act), 昭和二十三年法律第百六十八号 - English title "Juveniles 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: 第二十一条 (Article 21)（審判開始の決定） — address `art-21` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/juvenile-act/art-21 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-21 - 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. --- ### 第二十一条（審判開始の決定） — (Ruling to Commence a Trial) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-21 · https://japanlaw.org/en/juvenile-act/art-21 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-21 **第一項** 家庭裁判所は、調査の結果、審判を開始するのが相当であると認めるときは、その旨の決定をしなければならない。 art-21/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/juvenile-act/art-21/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-21/par-1 If it is found appropriate to commence a trial as a result of the investigation, the family court must make a ruling to that effect. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ## Cited by 3 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 少年法 第五条の二第一項（被害者等による記録の閲覧及び謄写） — https://japanlaw.org/en/juvenile-act/art-5-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-5-2/par-1 - 少年法 第四十七条第一項（時効の停止） — https://japanlaw.org/en/juvenile-act/art-47/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-47/par-1 - 少年法 第四十七条第二項（時効の停止） — https://japanlaw.org/en/juvenile-act/art-47/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-47/par-2 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 少年法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/323AC0000000168/20260624_508AC0000000046), retrieved 2026-11-02 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Juveniles Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4827/tb), retrieved 2026-11-02 - This site's parser, version 220 — 少年法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-11-02