# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第三百四条 (Article 304) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304. 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: 第三百四条 (Article 304) — address `art-304` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304 - 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. --- ### 第三百四条 art-304 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304 **第一項** 証人、鑑定人、通訳人又は翻訳人は、裁判長又は陪席の裁判官が、まず、これを尋問する。 art-304/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304/par-1 Witnesses, expert witnesses, interpreters or translators are first examined by the presiding judge or an associate judge. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 検察官、被告人又は弁護人は、前項の尋問が終つた後、裁判長に告げて、その証人、鑑定人、通訳人又は翻訳人を尋問することができる。この場合において、その証人、鑑定人、通訳人又は翻訳人の取調が、検察官、被告人又は弁護人の請求にかかるものであるときは、請求をした者が、先に尋問する。 art-304/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304/par-2 The public prosecutor, the defendant or the defense counsel may, by notifying the presiding judge, examine the witness, expert witness, interpreter or translator after the examination prescribed in the preceding paragraph. In this case, when the examination of the witness, expert witness, interpreter or translator pertains to the request of the public prosecutor, the defendant or the defense counsel, the one who made the request examines them first. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "The public prosecutor, the accused or the defense counsel, by notifying the presiding judge, examine the witness, expert witness, interpreter or translator after the examination prescribed in the preceding paragraph. In this case, when the examination of the witness, expert witness, interpreter or translator pertains to the request of the public prosecutor, the accused or the defense counsel, the one who made the request examines them first." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **第三項** 裁判所は、適当と認めるときは、検察官及び被告人又は弁護人の意見を聴き、前二項の尋問の順序を変更することができる。 art-304/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304/par-3 The court may, if it deems it appropriate, change the order of the examination prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs, upon hearing the opinions of the public prosecutor and the defendant or the defense counsel. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "The court may, if it deems it appropriate, change the order of the examination prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs, upon hearing the opinions of the public prosecutor and the accused or the defense counsel." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb --- ## Cites - art-304/par-2: 前項 → 刑事訴訟法 第三百四条第一項 (Article 304, paragraph (1)), art-304/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304/par-1 - art-304/par-3: 前二項 → 刑事訴訟法 第三百四条第一項 (Article 304, paragraph (1)), art-304/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304/par-1 - art-304/par-3: 前二項 → 刑事訴訟法 第三百四条第二項 (Article 304, paragraph (2)), art-304/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304/par-2 ## Cited by 4 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 刑事訴訟法 第三百四条第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304/par-2 - 刑事訴訟法 第三百四条第三項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-304/par-3 - 刑事訴訟法 第三百七条の三第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-307-3/par-1 - 刑事訴訟法 第三百五十条の二十四第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-350-24/par-1 --- ## 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 304, paragraph (2) — 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 304, paragraph (3) — 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