# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第百五十七条の四 (Article 157-4) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-4. 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: 刑事訴訟法 (Code of Criminal Procedure), 昭和二十三年法律第百三十一号 - English title "Code of Criminal 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: 第百五十七条の四 (Article 157-4) — address `art-157-4` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-4 - e-Gov law ID: 323AC0000000131 — 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. --- ### 第百五十七条の四 art-157-4 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-4 **第一項** 裁判所は、証人を尋問する場合において、証人の年齢、心身の状態その他の事情を考慮し、証人が著しく不安又は緊張を覚えるおそれがあると認めるときは、検察官及び被告人又は弁護人の意見を聴き、その不安又は緊張を緩和するのに適当であり、かつ、裁判官若しくは訴訟関係人の尋問若しくは証人の供述を妨げ、又はその供述の内容に不当な影響を与えるおそれがないと認める者を、その証人の供述中、証人に付き添わせることができる。 art-157-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-4/par-1 In the examination of a witness, if it is found that the witness is likely to feel extreme anxiety or tension taking into account the witness's age or mental or physical condition, or other circumstances, a court may, after hearing the opinions of the public prosecutor and the defendant or the defense counsel, have the witness accompanied during testimony by those who are suitable for easing the witness's anxiety or tension, and are unlikely to disturb examination by a judge or persons concerned in the case or the testimony of the witness, or to unduly influence the content of the testimony. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "In the examination of a witness, if it is found that the witness is likely to feel extreme anxiety or tension taking into account the witness's age or mental or physical condition, or other circumstances, a court may, after hearing the opinions of the public prosecutor and the accused or the defense counsel, have the witness accompanied during testimony by those who are suitable for easing the witness's anxiety or tension, and are unlikely to disturb examination by a judge or persons concerned in the case or the testimony of the witness, or to unduly influence the content of the testimony." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **第二項** 前項の規定により証人に付き添うこととされた者は、その証人の供述中、裁判官若しくは訴訟関係人の尋問若しくは証人の供述を妨げ、又はその供述の内容に不当な影響を与えるような言動をしてはならない。 art-157-4/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-4/par-2 The person accompanying the witness pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph must not behave in any manner, during the testimony of the witness, which may disturb examination by a judge or persons concerned in the case or the testimony of the witness, or unduly influence the content of the testimony. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-157-4/par-2: 前項 → 刑事訴訟法 第百五十七条の四第一項 (Article 157-4, paragraph (1)), art-157-4/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-4/par-1 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 刑事訴訟法 第百五十七条の四第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-157-4/par-2 - 刑事訴訟法 第二百九十二条の二第六項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-292-2/par-6 --- ## Sources - claude-opus-5-5 — Corrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of the Code of Criminal Procedure, written 2026-11-06 - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 刑事訴訟法 — the text in force from 2026-10-20 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/323AC0000000131/20261020_508AC0000000067), retrieved 2026-11-06 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), Article 157-4, paragraph (1) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb), retrieved 2026-11-06 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Code of Criminal Procedure — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb), retrieved 2026-11-06 - This site's parser, version 225 — 刑事訴訟法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-11-06