# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第三十一条の二 (Article 31-2) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2. 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: 第三十一条の二 (Article 31-2) — address `art-31-2` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2 - 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. --- ### 第三十一条の二 art-31-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2 **第一項** 弁護人を選任しようとする被告人又は被疑者は、弁護士会に対し、弁護人の選任の申出をすることができる。 art-31-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2/par-1 The defendant or suspect who intends to appoint defense counsel may make a request to the bar association for the appointment of defense counsel. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "The accused or suspect who intends to appoint defense counsel may make a request to the bar association for the appointment of defense counsel." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **第二項** 弁護士会は、前項の申出を受けた場合は、速やかに、所属する弁護士の中から弁護人となろうとする者を紹介しなければならない。 art-31-2/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2/par-2 If the bar association has been requested as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, it must promptly introduce prospective defense counsel from among the attorneys belonging to the bar association. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 弁護士会は、前項の弁護人となろうとする者がないときは、当該申出をした者に対し、速やかに、その旨を通知しなければならない。同項の規定により紹介した弁護士が被告人又は被疑者がした弁護人の選任の申込みを拒んだときも、同様とする。 art-31-2/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2/par-3 If there are no prospective defense counsel as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the bar association must promptly notify the person who made the request to such effect. The same also applies when the attorney who was introduced as prescribed in the preceding paragraph refuses the request for appointment of defense counsel made by the defendant or suspect. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "If there are no prospective defense counsel as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the bar association must promptly notify the person who made the request to such effect. The same also applies when the attorney who was introduced as prescribed in the preceding paragraph refuses the request for appointment of defense counsel made by the accused or suspect." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb --- ## Cites - art-31-2/par-2: 前項 → 刑事訴訟法 第三十一条の二第一項 (Article 31-2, paragraph (1)), art-31-2/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2/par-1 - art-31-2/par-3: 前項 → 刑事訴訟法 第三十一条の二第二項 (Article 31-2, paragraph (2)), art-31-2/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2/par-2 ## Cited by 12 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 刑事訴訟法 第三十一条の二第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2/par-2 - 刑事訴訟法 第三十一条の二第三項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-31-2/par-3 - 刑事訴訟法 第三十六条の三第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-36-3/par-1 - 刑事訴訟法 第三十六条の三第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-36-3/par-2 - 刑事訴訟法 第三十七条の三第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37-3/par-2 - 刑事訴訟法 第三十七条の三第三項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37-3/par-3 - 刑事訴訟法 第二百三条第四項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-203/par-4 - 刑事訴訟法 第二百四条第三項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-204/par-3 - 刑事訴訟法 第二百七条第四項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-207/par-4 - 刑事訴訟法 第二百七十二条第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-272/par-2 - 刑事訴訟法 附則第三条第三項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/suppl-4161-62/art-3/par-3 - 刑事訴訟法 附則第七条第三項（第二条の規定による刑事訴訟法の一部改正に伴う経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/suppl-4281-54/art-7/par-3 --- ## 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 31-2, 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 (刑事訴訟法), Article 31-2, 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