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Horei --Law Application Principles Act
[Complete English Translation of Articles]
Laws shall be enforced after 20 days from the promulgation date, except that any law specifies any other time for its enforcement.
Customary standards shall, if not disagreeing with public order or morality, have the same effect as a law, as far as it is approved by the provisions of law or applies to matters not provided for in any laws.
(1) The capacity of a person shall be determined on the basis of the law of his/her home country.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of the previous paragraph, a foreign person who would be a person of full capacity under the Japanese law shall be considered as such when performing a juristic act, even if he/she has only limited capacity under the law of his/her home country.
(3) The provisions of the previous paragraph shall not apply to any juristic act governed by the family law or the inheritance law, or to any juristic act related to immovables in foreign countries.
(1) The ground for the adjudication of commencement of guardianship shall be governed by the law of the home country of the adult protégé, and the effect of such adjudication shall be governed by the law of the adjudicating country.
(2) If any foreigner domiciled or residing in Japan has a ground for adjudication of commencement of guardianship under the law of his/her home country, the court may make adjudication upon his/her commencement of guardianship, except that such ground is not approved by the Japanese law.
The provisions of the previous article shall apply mutatis mutandis to adjudications of commencement of curatorship or assistance.
The court may make adjudication upon a foreign person’s disappearance under the Japanese law, if it has become unknown whether he/she is alive or not, but such adjudication shall only be related to the property located in Japan and/or the legal relations governed by the Japanese law.
(1) As to the law governing the formation and the effect of a juristic act, the jurisdiction of such governing law shall be determined by the parties of such juristic act.
(2) If the parties do not determine such jurisdiction, the law of the venue shall govern.
(1) The formalities of a juristic act shall be governed by the law stipulating the effect of such act.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of the previous paragraph, the formalities in compliance with the law of the venue shall be good enough, except for the formalities related to juristic acts establishing or disposing of real rights and/or any other rights to be registered.
(1) The jurisdiction from which an intention is expressed and a notice of such intention is issued to a person in another jurisdiction shall be considered to be the venue of that expressed intention.
(2) As to formation and/or effect of the contract, the jurisdiction from which an offering notice is issued shall be considered to be the venue. If at the time of acceptance the place where such offer was issued is unknown to the receiver, the jurisdiction of the offeror’s domicile shall be considered to be the venue.
(1) Real rights and/or any other rights to be registered in relation to movables and/or immovables shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the concerned object is located.
(2) Acquisition and loss of such rights as stipulated in the previous paragraph shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the concerned object was located at the time of fulfillment of the ground for such acquisition or loss.
(1) Formation and/or effect of the creditor’s rights based on the administration without mandate, unjust enrichment and/or wrongful acts shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the facts on which such rights are based have occurred.
(2) The provisions of the previous paragraph shall not apply to the wrongful acts occurring in foreign countries which would not be wrongful under the Japanese law.
(3) Even if the facts occurring in a foreign country would constitute a wrongful act under the Japanese law, the injured party shall not be entitled to claim any other remedy or compensations than those available under the Japanese law.
The effect of the transfer of the claims or creditor’s rights on third parties shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction in which the debtor’s domicile exists.
(1) For each of the marrying parties, the requisites for marriage shall be determined by the law of his/her home country.
(2) Formalities of marriage shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the marriage is conducted.
(3) Notwithstanding of the provisions of the previous paragraph, the formalities in compliance with the law of the home country of one marrying party shall be good enough, except that the marriage is conducted in Japan involving a Japanese as a marrying party.
If the husband and the wife are from the same home country, the effect of the marriage shall be governed by the law of that jurisdiction; if there is no such law but they have a permanent residence in the same jurisdiction, it shall be governed by the law of that jurisdiction; if there is no such law, it shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction most closely related with the husband and the wife.
(1) The provisions of the previous article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the matrimonial property system. However, if by the writing with the signatures and the date the husband and the wife determine which of the following laws shall govern, the matrimonial property system shall be governed by that law.
1. The law of the jurisdiction in which the husband or the wife has his/her citizenship.
2. The law of the jurisdiction in which the husband or the wife has his/her permanent residence.
3. As to the matrimonial property system for the immovables, the law of the jurisdiction in which such immovables are located.
(2) The matrimonial property system based on the law of a foreign country shall not be able to oppose to bona fide third parties in connection with the juristic acts conducted in Japan and/or the properties located in Japan. If such matrimonial property system is not good enough in this case, the matrimonial property system with relation to third parties shall be governed by the Japanese law.
(3) Notwithstanding of the provisions of the previous paragraph, the matrimonial property agreement under the law of a foreign country shall be able to oppose to third parties if it is registered in Japan.
The provisions of Article 14 shall apply mutatis mutandis to divorce. However, if the husband or the wife is a Japanese having a permanent residence in Japan, the divorce shall be governed by the Japanese law.
(1) If at the time of birth a child was legitimated under the law of the home country of the husband or the wife, the child shall be a legitimate child.
(2) If the husband died before the birth of the child, the law of his home country at the time of his death shall be considered as the law of his home country stipulated in the previous paragraph.
(1) As to the formation of the parental relations to an illegitimate child, the relations between a father and a child shall be governed by the law of the father’s home country at the time of birth; the relations between a mother and a child shall be governed by the law of the mother’s home country at that time. As to the formation of the parental relations based on the acknowledgement of paternity, if at the time of acknowledgement the law of the child’s home country requires a consent or approval from that child or any third party for the acknowledgement, such requirements shall necessarily be fulfilled.
(2) Apart from the laws mentioned in the first half of the previous paragraph, acknowledgement of paternity shall be governed by the law of the home country of the acknowledging person or the child at the time of acknowledgement. In this case, if the law of the home country of the acknowledging person governs, the provisions of the latter half of the same paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(3) If the father died before the birth of the child, the law of the father’s home country at the time of his death shall be considered as the law of the father’s home country stipulated in paragraph 1; if the person mentioned in the previous paragraph died before acknowledgement, the law of his/her home country at the time of his/her death shall be considered as the law of his/her home country stipulated in the same paragraph.
(1) If legitimation is established under the law of the home country of the father or the mother or the child at the time of fulfillment of the requirements for legitimation, the child shall acquire the status of the legitimate child.
(2) If the person mentioned in the previous paragraph died before fulfillment of the requirements for legitimation, the law of his/her home country at the time of his/her death shall be considered as the law of his/her home country stipulated in the same paragraph.
(1) Adoption shall be governed by the law of the home country of the adopting parent at the time of adoption. If the law of the home country of the adopted child requires a consent or approval from the adopted child or any third party or a permission or any other treatment of an authority for adoption, such requirements shall necessarily be fulfilled.
(2) Termination of family relationship between the adopted child and his/her natural family shall be governed the law stipulated in the first half of the previous paragraph.
Legal relations between the parents and the child shall be governed by the law of the child’s home country if it is the same law as that of the parents’ home country or, if the father or the mother does not exist, that of the home country of the existing parent; in other cases, they shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the child has his permanent residence.
Formalities for juristic acts related to family relations mentioned from Article 14 to the previous article shall be governed by the law governing the establishment of such acts. However, this does not prevent the governing by the law of the jurisdiction in which such acts are conducted.
Apart from those mentioned from Article 13 to Article 21, the family relationship and the rights and obligations arising from that shall be determined by the law of the home country of the parties.
(1) Guardianship shall be governed by the law of the home country of the protégé.
(2) Guardianship of a foreign person having an address or domicile in Japan shall be governed by the Japanese law only if there is no person managing the guardianship affairs in spite of the ground for the commencement of guardianship under the Japanese law or if adjudication upon the commencement of guardianship is made in Japan.
The provisions of the previous article shall apply mutatis mutandis to curatorship and assistance.
Inheritance shall be governed by the law of the ancestor’s home country.
(1) Establishment and/or effect of a testament shall be governed by the law of the testator’s home country at the time of the establishment of that testament.
(2) Cancellation of a testament shall be governed by the law of the testator’s home country at the time of the cancellation.
(1) The law of the home country of a party with a plural nationality shall be the law of the jurisdiction in which he/she has a permanent residence or, if there is no such country, the one most closely related to that party among the countries in which that party has his/her citizenship. However, if such party has a Japanese citizenship, the law of his/her home country shall be the Japanese law.
(2) In the case that the law of the party’s home country shall govern and that party does not have a citizenship in any country, the governing law shall be the law of the jurisdiction in which he/she has a permanent residence, except that the provisions of Article 14 (including the application mutatis mutandis in Article 15 (1) and Article 16) or Article 21 shall apply.
(3) If a party has a citizenship in a country which is constituted of different jurisdictions, the law of the home country of such party shall be the law of the jurisdiction specified by the regulation of that country or, if there is no such regulation, the law of the jurisdiction most closely related to him/her.
(1) In the case that the law of the jurisdiction where the party has his/her domicile shall govern and that domicile is not known, the law of the jurisdiction where that party resides shall govern.
(2) If the party has more than one domicile, the law of the jurisdiction where the party has his/her domicile shall be the law of the jurisdiction most closely related to him/her among the jurisdictions in which the party has his/her domiciles.
In the case that the law of the jurisdiction where the party has a permanent residence shall govern and that permanent residence is not known, the law of the jurisdiction where that party resides shall govern, except that the provisions of Article 14 (including the application mutatis mutandis in Article 15 (1) and Article 16) or Article 21 shall apply.
(1) In the case that a party has a citizenship of a country having different laws applying to different persons, the law of the home country of such party shall be the law specified by the regulation of that country or, if there is no such regulation, the law most closely related to him/her.
(2) The provisions of the previous paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to the law of the jurisdiction where the party has permanent residence if that jurisdiction has different laws applying to different persons, and to the law of the jurisdiction most closely related to the husband and the wife if that jurisdiction has different laws applying to different persons.
If the law of the party’s home country governs and that governing law prescribes that the case shall be governed by the Japanese law, the Japanese law shall govern, except that the law of the party’s home country shall govern in accordance with the provisions of Article 14 (including the application mutatis mutandis in Article 15 (1) and Article 16) or Article 21.
In the case that the foreign law shall govern but the application of the provisions of that law is against the public order and/or morality, such provisions shall not apply.
(1) This law shall not apply to the support obligations based on the family relationship such as matrimonial and/or parental relations, except for the provisions of the main clause of Article 30.
(2) This law shall not apply to the formalities of the testament, except for the provisions of the main clause of Article 28 (2), Article 29 (1), the main clause of Article 30 and Article 31.
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