# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第二百十二条 (Article 212)

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- 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: 第二百十二条 (Article 212) — address `art-212`
- Text in force since: 2026-10-20
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-212
- 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.

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### 第二百十二条
<sup>art-212 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-212</sup>

  **第一項**  現に罪を行い、又は現に罪を行い終つた者を現行犯人とする。
  <sup>art-212/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-212/par-1</sup>
  A person who is caught in the act of committing or is caught having just committed an offense is an offender caught in the act.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **第二項**  左の各号の一にあたる者が、罪を行い終つてから間がないと明らかに認められるときは、これを現行犯人とみなす。
  <sup>art-212/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-212/par-2</sup>
  Where any person who falls under one of the following items is clearly found to have committed an offense a short time beforehand, said person is deemed as an offender caught in the act:
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

    **一**  犯人として追呼されているとき。
    <sup>art-212/par-2/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-212/par-2/item-1</sup>
    a person being pursued as the offender;
    <sup>Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "a person being engaged in fresh pursuit;" — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb</sup>

    **二**  贓物又は明らかに犯罪の用に供したと思われる兇器その他の物を所持しているとき。
    <sup>art-212/par-2/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-212/par-2/item-2</sup>
    a person carrying property obtained through a property crime, or carrying a dangerous weapon or other things which are believed to have been used in the commission of a criminal act;
    <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

    **三**  身体又は被服に犯罪の顕著な証跡があるとき。
    <sup>art-212/par-2/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-212/par-2/item-3</sup>
    a person with visible traces of the offense on said person's body or clothing;
    <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

    **四**  誰何されて逃走しようとするとき。
    <sup>art-212/par-2/item-4 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-212/par-2/item-4</sup>
    a person who attempts to run away when challenged.
    <sup>Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "A person who attempts to run away when challenged." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb</sup>

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## 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 212, paragraph (2), item (i) — 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 (刑事訴訟法), Article 212, paragraph (2), item (iv) — 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