# 民事訴訟法 / Code of Civil Procedure — 第百九十七条 (Article 197)

- 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: 第百九十七条 (Article 197) — address `art-197`
- Text in force since: 2026-06-24
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-197
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-197
- 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.

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### 第百九十七条
<sup>art-197 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-197 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-197</sup>

    **第一項**  次に掲げる場合には、証人は、証言を拒むことができる。
    <sup>art-197/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-197/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-197/par-1</sup>
    In the following cases, a witness may refuse to testify:
    <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

      **一**  第百九十一条第一項の場合
      <sup>art-197/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-197/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-197/par-1/item-1</sup>
      a case as referred to in Article 191, paragraph (1)
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

      **二**  医師、歯科医師、薬剤師、医薬品販売業者、助産師、弁護士（外国法事務弁護士を含む。）、弁理士、弁護人、公証人、宗教、祈祷若しくは祭祀の職にある者又はこれらの職にあった者が職務上知り得た事実で黙秘すべきものについて尋問を受ける場合
      <sup>art-197/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-197/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-197/par-1/item-2</sup>
      a person who is or was a doctor, dentist, pharmacist, pharmaceuticals distributor, birthing assistant, attorney at law (this includes registered foreign lawyers), patent attorney, defense counsel, notary, or person engaged in a religious occupation is examined with regard to any fact learned in the course of duty that must remain confidential;
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

      **三**  技術又は職業の秘密に関する事項について尋問を受ける場合
      <sup>art-197/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-197/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-197/par-1/item-3</sup>
      the witness is examined with regard to a matter that involves a technical or professional secret.
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

    **第二項**  前項の規定は、証人が黙秘の義務を免除された場合には、適用しない。
    <sup>art-197/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-197/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-197/par-2</sup>
    The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply if the witness has been released from the duty of silence.
    <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

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## Cites
- art-197/par-1/item-1: 第百九十一条第一項 → 民事訴訟法 第百九十一条第一項 (Article 191, paragraph (1)), art-191/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-191/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-191/par-1
- art-197/par-2: 前項 → 民事訴訟法 第百九十七条第一項 (Article 197, paragraph (1)), art-197/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-197/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-197/par-1

## Cited by

6 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction.

- 労働組合法 第二十七条の九第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/labor-union-act/art-27-9/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/324AC0000000174/art-27-9/par-1
- 民事訴訟法 第百六十三条第一項第六号（当事者照会） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-163/par-1/item-6 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-163/par-1/item-6
- 民事訴訟法 第百九十七条第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-197/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-197/par-2
- 民事訴訟法 第百九十九条第一項（証言拒絶についての裁判） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-199/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-199/par-1
- 民事訴訟法 第二百十六条第一項（証人尋問の規定の準用） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-216/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-216/par-1
- 民事訴訟法 第二百二十条第一項第四号ハ（文書提出義務） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-220/par-1/item-4/sub-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-220/par-1/item-4/sub-3

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## 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
- This site's parser, version 209 — 民事訴訟法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-17