# 少年法 / Juveniles Act — 第五十二条 (Article 52) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52. 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: 少年法 (Juveniles Act), 昭和二十三年法律第百六十八号 - English title "Juveniles Act": 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: 第五十二条 (Article 52)（不定期刑） — address `art-52` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs 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. --- ### 第五十二条（不定期刑） — (Indeterminate Sentences) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-52 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52 **第一項** 少年に対して有期拘禁刑をもつて処断すべきときは、処断すべき刑の範囲内において、長期を定めるとともに、長期の二分の一（長期が十年を下回るときは、長期から五年を減じた期間。次項において同じ。）を下回らない範囲内において短期を定めて、これを言い渡す。この場合において、長期は十五年、短期は十年を超えることはできない。 art-52/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-1 If a juvenile is to be sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term, a sentence for the maximum term of imprisonment is determined within the range of the punishment to be imposed, with the minimum term of imprisonment being at least one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment (if the maximum term of imprisonment is less than 10 years; 5 years less than the maximum term of imprisonment; this also applies in the following paragraph). In this case, the maximum term of imprisonment may not exceed 15 years, and the minimum term of imprisonment may not exceed 10 years. machine translation, not official **第二項** 前項の短期については、同項の規定にかかわらず、少年の改善更生の可能性その他の事情を考慮し特に必要があるときは、処断すべき刑の短期の二分の一を下回らず、かつ、長期の二分の一を下回らない範囲内において、これを定めることができる。この場合においては、刑法第十四条第二項の規定を準用する。 art-52/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-2 Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if it is found particularly necessary, taking into consideration the possibility of improvement and rehabilitation of the juvenile and other circumstances, the minimum term of imprisonment prescribed in that paragraph may be determined within not less than one-half of the minimum term of imprisonment of the punishment to be imposed, and not less than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment. In this case, the provisions of Article 14, paragraph (2) of the Penal Code apply mutatis mutandis. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 刑の執行猶予の言渡しをする場合には、前二項の規定は、これを適用しない。 art-52/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-3 The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs do not apply in the case when suspension of execution of sentence is rendered. machine translation, not official --- ## Cites - art-52/par-1: 次項 → 少年法 第五十二条第二項 (Article 52, paragraph (2)), art-52/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-2 - art-52/par-2: 前項 → 少年法 第五十二条第一項 (Article 52, paragraph (1)), art-52/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-1 - art-52/par-2: 刑法第十四条第二項 → 刑法 第十四条第二項 (Article 14, paragraph (2)), art-14/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/penal-code/art-14/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-14/par-2 - art-52/par-3: 前二項 → 少年法 第五十二条第一項 (Article 52, paragraph (1)), art-52/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-1 - art-52/par-3: 前二項 → 少年法 第五十二条第二項 (Article 52, paragraph (2)), art-52/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-2 ## Cited by 8 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 少年法 第五十二条第一項（不定期刑） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-1 - 少年法 第五十二条第二項（不定期刑） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-2 - 少年法 第五十二条第三項（不定期刑） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-52/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-52/par-3 - 少年法 第五十八条第一項第三号（仮釈放） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-58/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-58/par-1/item-3 - 少年法 第五十九条第二項（仮釈放期間の終了） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-59/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-59/par-2 - 少年法 第六十七条第四項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/art-67/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/art-67/par-4 - 少年法 附則第二条第一項（経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/suppl-4261-23/art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/suppl-4261-23/art-2/par-1 - 少年法 附則第四条第一項（不定期刑、仮釈放及び仮釈放期間の終了に関する経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/juvenile-act/suppl-5031-47/art-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000168/suppl-5031-47/art-4/par-1 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 少年法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/323AC0000000168/20260624_508AC0000000046), retrieved 2026-11-02 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Juveniles Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4827/tb), retrieved 2026-11-02 - claude-sonnet-5-5 — Machine translation, batch juvenile-act-20261102T172711-001, translated 2026-11-03 - This site's parser, version 220 — 少年法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-11-02