# 民事訴訟法 / Code of Civil Procedure — 第百七十六条 (Article 176) - Law: 民事訴訟法 (Code of Civil Procedure), 平成八年法律第百九号 - English title "Code of Civil Procedure": 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: 第百七十六条 (Article 176)（書面による準備手続の方法等） — address `art-176` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-176 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-176 - 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. --- ### 第百七十六条（書面による準備手続の方法等） — (Manner of Conducting Written Preparatory Proceedings) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-176 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-176 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-176 **第一項** 裁判長は、書面による準備手続を行う場合には、第百六十二条第一項に規定する期間を定めなければならない。 art-176/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-176/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-176/par-1 The presiding judge must set a time frame as provided in Article 162, paragraph (1) when conducting written preparatory proceedings. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 裁判所は、書面による準備手続を行う場合において、必要があると認めるときは、最高裁判所規則で定めるところにより、裁判所及び当事者双方が音声の送受信により同時に通話をすることができる方法によって、争点及び証拠の整理に関する事項その他口頭弁論の準備のため必要な事項について、当事者双方と協議をすることができる。この場合においては、協議の結果を裁判所書記官に記録させることができる。 art-176/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-176/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-176/par-2 If the court finds it to be necessary when conducting Written Preparatory Proceedings, the court may consult both parties with regard to things involved in the arrangement of issues and evidence or anything else concerning which they need to be consulted to prepare for oral arguments, as provided for by the Rules of the Supreme Court, in a way that enables the court and both parties to communicate with one another at the same time, through audio transmissions. Having done so, the court may have the court clerk record the outcome of the consultation. machine translation, not official **第三項** 第百四十九条、第百五十条及び第百六十五条第二項の規定は、書面による準備手続について準用する。 art-176/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-176/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-176/par-3 The provisions of Article 149, Article 150, and Article 165, paragraph (2) apply mutatis mutandis to Written Preparatory Proceedings. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-176/par-1: 第百六十二条第一項 → 民事訴訟法 第百六十二条第一項 (Article 162, paragraph (1)), art-162/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-162/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-162/par-1 - art-176/par-3: 第百四十九条 → 民事訴訟法 第百四十九条 (Article 149), art-149 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-149 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-149 - art-176/par-3: 第百五十条 → 民事訴訟法 第百五十条 (Article 150), art-150 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-150 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-150 - art-176/par-3: 第百六十五条第二項 → 民事訴訟法 第百六十五条第二項 (Article 165, paragraph (2)), art-165/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-165/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-165/par-2 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民事訴訟法 第百七十六条の二第二項（受命裁判官による書面による準備手続） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-176-2/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-176-2/par-2 - 民事訴訟法 第百七十八条第一項（書面による準備手続終結後の攻撃防御方法の提出） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-178/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-178/par-1 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 民事訴訟法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/408AC0000000109/20260624_508AC0000000046), retrieved 2026-10-17 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Code of Civil Procedure — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4797/tb), retrieved 2026-10-17 - claude-sonnet-5-5 — Machine translation, batch code-of-civil-procedure-20261017T235501-001, translated 2026-10-18 - This site's parser, version 209 — 民事訴訟法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-17