The numbering system used to identify Japanese laws and regulations.
Overview
Japanese Law Numbers
Japanese law numbers are a numbering system assigned at the time of promulgation to identify laws, cabinet orders, imperial orders, ministerial ordinances, and rules. Numbers are assigned sequentially from No. 1 for each calendar year according to the type of law and year of enactment, and when the era name changes, numbering starts anew from No. 1 at that point. Assigned based on the promulgation date, they play an important role in uniquely identifying laws, especially when multiple laws share the same title. In the e-Gov law search system, a 15-digit law ID is used to identify laws in a machine-readable format.
law
act
cabinet order
ministerial ordinance
e-Gov
law number
legal system
official gazette
| code | slug | name | description | format | lawType | lawIdPrefix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | constitution | Constitution | The supreme law of Japan. | Constitution of Japan (no law number) | Constitution | |
| 2 | act | Act | Laws established through approval by the National Diet based on constitutional provisions. | Era Name Year Act No. X (e.g., Heisei 5 Act No. 88) | Act | AC |
| 3 | cabinet-order | Cabinet Order | Orders issued by the Cabinet to implement constitutional and legal provisions. | Era Name Year Cabinet Order No. X (e.g., Showa 60 Cabinet Order No. 75) | CabinetOrder | CO |
| 4 | imperial-order | Imperial Order | An old form of law, but includes those still valid at the time data compilation began. | Era Name Year Imperial Order No. X (e.g., Showa 18 Imperial Order No. 618) | ImperialOrder | IO |
| 5 | ministerial-ordinance | Ministerial Ordinance | Orders established by heads of organizations based on laws and cabinet orders. | Era Name Year Ministry Ordinance No. X (e.g., Heisei 17 Ministry of Justice Ordinance No. 27) | MinisterialOrdinance | M1-M6 |
| 6 | rule | Rule | Rules such as National Personnel Authority rules, Board of Audit rules, and Supreme Court rules. | Era Name Year Rule No. X (e.g., Showa 22 Board of Audit Rule No. 1) | Rule | R |