# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第三百三十八条 (Article 338) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-338. 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: 第三百三十八条 (Article 338) — address `art-338` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-338 - 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. --- ### 第三百三十八条 art-338 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-338 **第一項** 左の場合には、判決で公訴を棄却しなければならない。 art-338/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-338/par-1 The court must make a judgment to render a dismissal of prosecution when: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **一** 被告人に対して裁判権を有しないとき。 art-338/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-338/par-1/item-1 it has no national jurisdiction over the defendant; Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "it has no national jurisdiction over the accused;" — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **二** 第三百四十条の規定に違反して公訴が提起されたとき。 art-338/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-338/par-1/item-2 the prosecution has been instituted in violation of Article 340; Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **三** 公訴の提起があつた事件について、更に同一裁判所に公訴が提起されたとき。 art-338/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-338/par-1/item-3 there is a further institution of prosecution for the same case in the same court; Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "there is an institution of prosecution for the same case in the same court;" — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **四** 公訴提起の手続がその規定に違反したため無効であるとき。 art-338/par-1/item-4 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-338/par-1/item-4 the procedure of the institution of prosecution is ineffective because of violation of the provisions. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-338/par-1/item-2: 第三百四十条 → 刑事訴訟法 第三百四十条 (Article 340), art-340 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-340 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 刑事訴訟法 第三百四十五条第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-345/par-1 - 刑事訴訟法 第四百六十三条第六項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-463/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 338, paragraph (1), 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 338, paragraph (1), item (iii) — 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