# 民事訴訟法 / Code of Civil Procedure — 第二百一条 (Article 201) - 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: 第二百一条 (Article 201)（宣誓） — address `art-201` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-201 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-201 - 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. --- ### 第二百一条（宣誓） — (Oath) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-201 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-201 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-201 **第一項** 証人には、特別の定めがある場合を除き、宣誓をさせなければならない。 art-201/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-201/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-201/par-1 Except as otherwise provided, the court must have a witness swear under oath. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 十六歳未満の者又は宣誓の趣旨を理解することができない者を証人として尋問する場合には、宣誓をさせることができない。 art-201/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-201/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-201/par-2 When examining a person under 16 years of age or person who is unable to understand the purpose of swearing under oath as a witness, the court may not make the witness swear under oath. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 第百九十六条の規定に該当する証人で証言拒絶の権利を行使しないものを尋問する場合には、宣誓をさせないことができる。 art-201/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-201/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-201/par-3 When examining a witness who falls under the provisions of Article 196 and does not exercise the right to refuse to testify, the court may choose not to have the witness swear under oath. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第四項** 証人は、自己又は自己と第百九十六条各号に掲げる関係を有する者に著しい利害関係のある事項について尋問を受けるときは、宣誓を拒むことができる。 art-201/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-201/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-201/par-4 A witness may refuse to swear under oath when being examined with regard to matters in which the witness, personally, or a person to whom the witness is related in any of the ways listed in the items of Article 196, is deeply interested. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第五項** 第百九十八条及び第百九十九条の規定は証人が宣誓を拒む場合について、第百九十二条及び第百九十三条の規定は宣誓拒絶を理由がないとする裁判が確定した後に証人が正当な理由なく宣誓を拒む場合について準用する。 art-201/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-201/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-201/par-5 The provisions of Articles 198 and 199 apply mutatis mutandis if a witness refuses to swear under oath, and the provisions of Articles 192 and 193 apply mutatis mutandis if, after a judicial decision finding no grounds for a refusal to testify becomes final and binding, the witness still refuses to testify, without a legitimate reason for refusing to do so. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-201/par-3: 第百九十六条 → 民事訴訟法 第百九十六条 (Article 196), art-196 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-196 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-196 - art-201/par-4: 第百九十六条 → 民事訴訟法 第百九十六条 (Article 196), art-196 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-196 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-196 - art-201/par-5: 第百九十八条 → 民事訴訟法 第百九十八条 (Article 198), art-198 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-198 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-198 - art-201/par-5: 第百九十九条 → 民事訴訟法 第百九十九条 (Article 199), art-199 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-199 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-199 - art-201/par-5: 第百九十二条 → 民事訴訟法 第百九十二条 (Article 192), art-192 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-192 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-192 - art-201/par-5: 第百九十三条 → 民事訴訟法 第百九十三条 (Article 193), art-193 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-193 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-193 ## Cited by 7 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 労働審判法 第十七条第二項（証拠調べ等） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/labor-tribunal-act/art-17/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000045/art-17/par-2 - 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 - 民事執行法 第百九十九条第七項（財産開示期日） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-enforcement-act/art-199/par-7 · https://japanlaw.org/l/354AC0000000004/art-199/par-7 - 民事執行法 第二百十三条第一項第六号（陳述等拒絶の罪） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-enforcement-act/art-213/par-1/item-6 · https://japanlaw.org/l/354AC0000000004/art-213/par-1/item-6 - 民事訴訟法 第二百十条第一項（証人尋問の規定の準用） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-210/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-210/par-1 - 民事訴訟法 第二百十二条第二項（鑑定義務） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-212/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-212/par-2 - 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 --- ## 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