# 小規模企業共済法 / Small Enterprise Mutual Relief Projects Act — 第二十三条 (Article 23) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/small-enterprise-mutual-aid-act/art-23. 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: 小規模企業共済法 (Small Enterprise Mutual Relief Projects Act), 昭和四十年法律第百二号 - English title "Small Enterprise Mutual Relief Projects Act": Ministry of Justice translation database, which lists the title - 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: 第二十三条 (Article 23)（時効） — address `art-23` - Text in force since: 2021-06-17 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/small-enterprise-mutual-aid-act/art-23 - e-Gov law ID: 340AC0000000102 — never renamed. A permanent link, `/l/{lawId}/{address}` on this site, redirects to the page. - Every provision below carries its address and its URL 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. --- ### 第二十三条（時効） — Prescription caption: machine translation, not official art-23 · https://japanlaw.org/en/small-enterprise-mutual-aid-act/art-23 **第一項** 共済金等の支給を受ける権利はこれを行使することができる時から五年間、掛金の納付を受ける権利及び掛金の返還を受ける権利はこれらを行使することができる時から二年間行使しないときは、時効によつて消滅する。 art-23/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/small-enterprise-mutual-aid-act/art-23/par-1 The right to receive payment of mutual aid benefits, etc. is extinguished by prescription if not exercised for five years from the time when it becomes exercisable, and the right to receive payment of premiums and the right to receive a refund of premiums are extinguished by prescription if not exercised for two years from the time when they become exercisable. machine translation, not official **第二項** 共済金の支給を受ける権利を有する遺族が先順位者又は同順位者の生死又は所在が不明であるために共済金の支給の請求をすることができない場合には、その請求をすることができることとなつた日から六月以内は、当該権利の消滅時効は、完成しないものとする。 art-23/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/small-enterprise-mutual-aid-act/art-23/par-2 Where a surviving family member who has the right to receive payment of mutual aid benefits is unable to request payment of the mutual aid benefits because it is unknown whether a person of a higher rank or of the same rank is alive or dead, or where that person is, the extinctive prescription of that right is not to be completed within six months from the day on which the request became possible. machine translation, not official --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 小規模企業共済法 — the text in force from 2021-06-17 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/340AC0000000102/20210617_503AC0000000070), retrieved 2026-11-06 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — 小規模企業共済法 — its English title as the Ministry of Justice's translation database lists it (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/846), retrieved 2026-09-18 - claude-sonnet-5-5 — Machine translation, batch small-enterprise-mutual-aid-act-20261106T173426-005, translated 2026-11-07 - This site's parser, version 225 — 小規模企業共済法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-11-06