# 刑事訴訟法 / Code of Criminal Procedure — 第三十七条 (Article 37) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37. 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: 第三十七条 (Article 37) — address `art-37` - Text in force since: 2026-10-20 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37 - 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. --- ### 第三十七条 art-37 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37 **第一項** 左の場合に被告人に弁護人がないときは、裁判所は、職権で弁護人を附することができる。 art-37/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37/par-1 The court may appoint defense counsel ex-officio if there is no defense counsel for the defendant when: Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "The court may appoint defense counsel ex-officio if there is no defense counsel for the accused when:" — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **一** 被告人が未成年者であるとき。 art-37/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37/par-1/item-1 the defendant is a minor; Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "the accused is a minor;" — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **二** 被告人が年齢七十年以上の者であるとき。 art-37/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37/par-1/item-2 the defendant is seventy years of age or older; Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "the accused is over seventy years of age;" — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **三** 被告人が耳の聞えない者又は口のきけない者であるとき。 art-37/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37/par-1/item-3 the defendant is unable to hear or speak; Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "the accused is unable to hear or speak;" — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **四** 被告人が心神喪失者又は心神耗弱者である疑があるとき。 art-37/par-1/item-4 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37/par-1/item-4 there is the possibility that the defendant is insane or has diminished capacity; Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "there is the possibility that the accused is insane or has diminished capacity;" — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3739/tb **五** その他必要と認めるとき。 art-37/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-37/par-1/item-5 it is deemed necessary for other reasons. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 刑事訴訟法 第二百九十条第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/code-of-criminal-procedure/art-290/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 37, 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 37, 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 37, paragraph (1), item (ii) — 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 37, 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 (刑事訴訟法), Article 37, paragraph (1), 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