# 民事訴訟法 / Code of Civil Procedure — 第二百二十八条 (Article 228) - 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: 第二百二十八条 (Article 228)（文書の成立） — address `art-228` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228 - 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. --- ### 第二百二十八条（文書の成立） — (Provenance of Documents) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-228 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228 **第一項** 文書は、その成立が真正であることを証明しなければならない。 art-228/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228/par-1 A document must be proven to be of authentic provenance. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 文書は、その方式及び趣旨により公務員が職務上作成したものと認めるべきときは、真正に成立した公文書と推定する。 art-228/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228/par-2 If a document is found, in light of its form and purport, to have been prepared by a public officer in the course of duties, it is presumed to be an official document of authentic provenance. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 公文書の成立の真否について疑いがあるときは、裁判所は、職権で、当該官庁又は公署に照会をすることができる。 art-228/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228/par-3 If there is any doubt about the authenticity of an official document's provenance, the court may inquire of that government agency or public office sua sponte. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "If there is any doubt about the authenticity of an official document's provenance, the court may inquire of the that government agency or public office sua sponte." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4797/tb **第四項** 私文書は、本人又はその代理人の署名又は押印があるときは、真正に成立したものと推定する。 art-228/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228/par-4 If a private document has been signed by, or bears the seal of, the principal or an agent, it is presumed to be of authentic provenance. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第五項** 第二項及び第三項の規定は、外国の官庁又は公署の作成に係るものと認めるべき文書について準用する。 art-228/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228/par-5 The provisions of paragraphs (2) and (3) apply mutatis mutandis to a document that is found to have been prepared by a foreign government agency or public office. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-228/par-5: 第二項 → 民事訴訟法 第二百二十八条第二項 (Article 228, paragraph (2)), art-228/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228/par-2 - art-228/par-5: 第三項 → 民事訴訟法 第二百二十八条第三項 (Article 228, paragraph (3)), art-228/par-3 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228/par-3 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民事訴訟法 第二百二十八条第五項（文書の成立） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-228/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-228/par-5 - 民事訴訟法 第二百三十一条の三第一項（書証の規定の準用等） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-civil-procedure/art-231-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/408AC0000000109/art-231-3/par-1 --- ## Sources - claude-opus-5-5 — Corrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of paragraphs, written 2026-10-18 - 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 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Code of Civil Procedure (民事訴訟法), Article 228, paragraph (3) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (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