I hereby give My sanction, with the advice of the Privy Council, to the Law concerning the Amendments to the Account Law, for which the concurrence of the Imperial Diet has been obtained, and cause the same to be promulgated.
Signed:HIROHITO, Seal of the Emperor
This thirty-first day of the third month of the twenty-second year of Showa (March 31, 1947)
Countersigned: Prime Minister and concurrently Minister for Foreign Affairs YOSHIDA Shigeru
Minister of State Baron SHIDEHARA Kijuro
Minister of Justice KIMURA Tokutaro
Minister of State SAITO Takao
Minister of Communications HITOTSUMATSU Sadayoshi
Minister of State HOSHIJIMA Niro
Minister of Welfare KAWAI Yoshinari
Minister for Home Affairs UEHARA Etsujiro
Minister of Finance ISHIBASHI Tanzan
Minister of State KANAMORI Tokujiro
Minister of Transportation MASUDA Kaneshichi
Minister of Commerce and Industry ISHII Mitsujiro
Minister of Education TAKAHASHI Seiichiro
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry KIMURA Kozaemon
Minister of State TANAKA Man-itsu
Minister of State TAKASE Sotaro
The Accounts Law Contents
Chapter 3. Expenditures and Encumbrances
Chapter 6. Government Funds in custody and Securities
Chapter 7. Accounting Officials
Chapter 8. Miscellaneous Provisions
The Accounts Law
Chapter 1. General Rules
Art.1. The accounting business of revenues and expenditures of the fiscal year period shall be settled by July 31 of the following year in accordance with the Cabinet Order.
The Division of annual receipts and disbursement shall be provided for by Cabinet Order.
Art.2. The Chief of respective ministries and boards (which means the Chief of respective ministries and boards provided for in the Finance Law paragraph 2 of Art 20. The Chief of them means hereinafter the same) shall turn over all the receipts under his jurisdiction to the Treasury, and not be authorised to utilize money without putting through the budget.
Chapter 2. Receipts
Art.3. Taxes and other annual revenues shall be collected or received in accordance with the provisions of Laws and Ordinances.
Art.4. Finance Minister shall manage the general affairs of collecting and receiving the annual receipts, Chief of respective ministries and boards administer the affairs of collecting and receiving the annual receipts under their jurisdiction.
Art.5. Only the officials (officials of the Diet included. The officials hereinafter means the same.) specially qualified by Laws and Ordinances, may collect taxes or other annual revences (hereinafter to be called receipts collecting officials).
Art, 6. In case the collecting officials collect taxes and other revenues, they shall investigate and decide taxes and other revenues and notify the obligors of the payment of taxes.
Art.7. Only the accounting officials may collect taxes and other revenues, provided, however, that this shall not apply to the case where accounting clerks are authorized to take partial charge of receipt or where the Bank of Japan is caused to undertake receipt of revenues.
In case the accounting officials and accounting clerks collect taxes and other revenues, such collecting money shall be immediately paid into the Bank of Japan.
Art.8. The office of collecting annual receipts shall not be accompanied with the office of handling cash, provided, however, that the above shall not apply when specific exceptions are authorized by executive Order.
Art.9. Receipts belonging to the fiscal year of the conclusion of account and other receipts out of Budget shall be put into the revenues of present fiscal year, provided, however, that the returned money of expenditures which are already expended may be returned into each money of such expenditures in accordance with the Cabinet Order.
Chapter 3. Expenditures and Encumbrances
Section 1. General Rules
Art.10. The Chief of respective ministries and boards shall manage the disbursement and encumbrances under his jurisdiction.
Section 2. Encumbrances
Art.11. Contracts etc.(provided for in paragraph 1 of Art.34 of Finance Law. It is the same hereinafter) shall be carried out in accordance with Laws, Ordinances and budget.
Art.12. The Chief of respective ministries and boards shall not make obligation due to the budget provided in the provision of par.1, Art, 31 of the Finance Law, in excess of the sum approved by the provision of Art.34 of the Finance Law.
Art.13. The Chief of respective ministries and boards may delegate the power to enter in contracts etc.
Section 3. Expenditure
Art.14. The Chief of respective ministries and boards shall not disburse due to the expenditure budget under his jurisdiction, only in excess of the sum of payment plan approved by the provision of Art.34 of the Finance Law.
Art.15. The chief of respective ministries and boards, in order to disburse money due to the expenditure budget under his jurisdiction, shall either issue cheques for Bank of Japan in place of paying cash, or deliver transfer slips for the transfer within treasury (hereinafter to be called transfer slips) in accordance with the instruction by Finance Minister.
Art.16. The chief of respective ministries and boards shall not issue cheques except in favour of creditors:provided, however, that this shall not apply to the case where, in accordance with the provisions of Art.17 or from 19 to 21, he deliver funds to the official in charge or to the Bank of Japan.
Art.17. The chief of respective ministries and boards may deliver the necessary funds to officials in charge, in accordance with the Cabinet Order in order to make him pay the expenses in cash, only in the case of such expenses specified by Cabinet Order, as those to be defrayed in places where conditions of traffic communication is unfavorable, miscellaneous offizce expenses etc. where the business cannot be smoothly discharged unless the officials in charge can pay in cash.
Art.18. Only in the case of the expenses provided for in the preceding Article which are appropriated for the expenses provided by the Cabinet Order, the chief of ministries and boards when unavoidably necessary may deliver the funds to the officials in charge in accordance with the previous Article before the commencement of the fiscal year through the approval of Finance Minister.
In the case of approval of the Provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Finance Minister shall report to the Bank of Japan and the Board of Audit.
Art.19. Finance Minister may, for the purpose of making the Bank of Japan pay principal and interest of national debts, deliver the necessary funds to the said Bank.
Art.20. The chief of respective ministries and boards, in accordance with the provision of Cabinet Order, may cause officials in charge of Transportation offices and others to transfer and utilize the cash from the annual receipts, annual disbursement and cash not belonging to annual receipt or disbursement, when there is necessity to defray money.
The chief of respective ministries and boards may transmit the money to the officials in charge to replenish the cash which those official utilized in accordance with the provision in the preceding paragraph.
Art.21. The chief of respective ministries and boards may, when making payments to persons in distant places, deliver necessary funds in advance to the Bank of Japan to cause it to make the payments.
The provisions of preceding paragraph shall apply to cases where funds are to be delivered to accounting officials in distant places, in accordance with Art.17 or paragraph 2 of the preceding Article.
Art.22. The chief of respective ministries and boards may make payment in advance or in lump sum only where the business cannot be smoothly carried unless paid in advance or in lump sum according to the character of the expenses such as freight, charterage, travel expenses and others to be provided for in Cabinet Order.
Art.23. The chief of respective ministries and boards may, in case of paying the expenses of office provided by Cabinet Order in which the extraordinary accounting is necessary, such as in communications offices, deliver a part of whole of such office expenses to the responsible officials with an imaginary limit, in accordance with the Cabinet Order.
Art.24. The chief of respective ministries and boards may entrust the other officials with the power of the issuance of cheques or deliverance of transfer-slip in order to defray annual expenses under his jurisdiction.
Art.25. The chief of respective ministries and boards or the official entrusted from him (hereinafter to be called disbursement officials), in accordance with the provision of Cabinet Order, shall be attested to the cheques and transferslip by Finance Minister or his appointed.
Art.26. The duties and responsibilities of the disbursement of the annual expenditures shall not be combined with duties and responsibilities of the cash accounting.
Art.27. The expenses which should be included in the former fiscal year shall be met by the expenditure budget for the present fiscal year. But it shall not exceed the amount saved for this fiscal year with respective items, except the expenses appointed by the Minister of Finance under the proviso to paragraph 3 of Article 35 of the Finance Law.
Section 4. Payments
Art.28. In case the Bank of Japan has received the check which rre drawn by the disbursing official, the Bank shall pay for it, though more than ten days have passed as long as one year has not passed since that check was drawn.
In case the Bank of Japan received the fund under the provision of Article 21, the Bank of Japan can not pay to the creditor or the accounting official after one year from the date of the check drawn for the payment of the fund by the disbursing official.
Chapter IV. Contract
Art.29. In case the purchase and sale, borrowing and loan, and other contracts shall be made in every Ministry and Board, they shall be announced and put up to auction. But in case the chief of each Ministry and Board considers it infavorable to sell by tenders, or in case it is provided otherwise in the Cabinet Order, they can be made by limited competition or by free contract through the consultation with Finance Minister.
Chapter V. Prescription
Art.30. The rights of the claim of the state for the payment of money shall be extinguished by prescription if it is not provided in other laws and five years have passed without exercising the rights. The same shall be applied to those rights of claim to the State for the payments of money.
Art.31. In case there is no provision for the interruption and suspension of the prescription and others in other laws, the provision of the civil law shall be applied to those claims of the State for the payment of money. The same shall apply to those rights of the claim to the state for the payment of money.
Art.32. Notifications of the payment of the State, in accordance with the provisions of Laws and Ordinances, has force of interruption of prescription in spite of the provisions of Art.153 of Civil Code (the case applied in the preceding Article included).
Chapter VI. Treasury Funds and Securities
Art.33. The cihef of respective Ministries and Boards cannot keep in custody public or_private cash and securities excepting in accordance with the Cabinet Orders.
Art.34. The Bank of Japan must deal with the matters relative to the receipt and payment of Treasury Funds in accordance with the provisions of the Cabinet Orders.
The Teasury Funds, received by the Bank of Japan in the preceding provision, shall become the deposit of the State in accordance with the Cabinet Order.
Art.35. The State may authorize the Bank of Japan to handle the securities which the State owns or keeps in custody.
Art.36. The Bank of Japan shall be subject to the auditing of the Board of Audit concerning the receipt and disbursement of the Treasury Funds handled by it, the balance of proceeds from the revising of national loans, balance of funds delivered under the provisions of Art.19 or Art.21 and the receipt or payment of securities handled according to the provisions of preceding Article.
Art.37. The responsibility of the Bank of Japan for compensation caused to the State in respect to the receipt and disbursement and custody or cash or securities it handles on behalf of the State, shall be governed by the Civil Code and Commercial Code.
Chapter VII. Accounting Official
Art.38. The official who shall receive, pay and keep in custody cash and goods shall be called the accounting officfal.
The accounting official shall receive, pay and keep in costoody cash and goods, in accordance with the provisions of laws and ordinance.
Art.39. The accounting official shall be appointed by the chief of respective ministries and boards or his appointed.
The chief of ministry and board, if deemed necessary, may appoint the accounting deputy who takes charge of all the duties of the accounting official or appoint the accounting assistant who takes charge of a part of the same duties.
Art.40. The chief of respective ministry and board may, if deemed necessary, let the official of respective ministries or Boards to receive, pay and keep in custody cash and goods in accordance with the provisions of the Cabinet Order.
The officials who are appointed to assist the business of the accounting official in the preceding paragraph, is called an accounting clerk.
Art.41. In case the accounting official has lost or damaged cash or goods in his custody owing to neglection of a good custodian's duty, he shall not be relieved from his responsibility of compensation for the loss or damage.
However when he proves that he did not neglect his duties in regard to losing and damaging of goods used in each ministry and board, he shall be relieved from his responsibility for a simple reason that he did not work by himself, with the exception of the acts of the accounting deputy, accounting assistant and accounting clerk.
Art.42. In case cash or goods in the custody of the accounting official are lost or damaged, the chief of respective ministries or boards must inform it at once to the Finance Minister and the Board of Audit. of the accounting official are lost or damaged, may order the accounting official or accounting clerk to compensate for such loss, even before the decision of the Board of Audit.
Art.43. The chief of respective ministry or board may, in case cash or goods in the custody
In the preceding paragraph the already paid compensation money shall be at once returned when the Board of Audit denies that the accounting official has the responsibility of compensation.
Art.44. The accounting deputy, accounting assistant and accounting clerk shall bear his own responsibility for his act.
Art.45. The provisions regarding the accounting official shall apply in regard to the accounting clerk.
Chapter VIII. Miscellaneous Provisions
Art.46. In order to keep the exactness of the execution of the budget the Minister of Finance may authorize to submit the report of the actual conditions or the prospect of revenues and expenditures from each Ministry and Board, inspect the execution of the budget, and when it is necessary, may make the necessary directive for the execution of the budget through the decision of the Cabinet.
In order to keep the exactness of the execution of the budget the Minister of Finance shall be authorized to inspect for himself of delegate the authority to the head of each Ministry and Board to make the report delivered from the contracter of the undertaking, deliverer of the goods, receiver of the subsidy (including the final receiver of the subsidy) or the persons who are trusted with the investigation, test and research.
Art.47. The Ministry of Finance, revenues collecting official the official authorized to make contract and others under the provisions of Article 13, the disbursing official, the accounting official and accounting clerk, and the Bank of Japan shall be obliged to prepare the books, to make the report and estimates and to deliver them to the Ministry of Finance and Board of Audit.
The cash officials and clerk, and Bank of Japan shall report to the revenue collecting official and disbursing office regarding the revenues and disbursements handled by them in accordance with the Cabinet Order.
Art.48. The State shall be authorized under the provision of the Cabinet Order to delegate the management of the business of revenue, contract, expenditures and others to the officials of metropolis, district, urban and local prefectures.
The provisions for the officials authorized to make contract and others under the provision of Article 13 shall be applied to those for the official of metropolis, districts, urban and local prefectures who manage the business of revenue, expenditures contract, and others under the preceding paragraph.
Art.49. The provision of Article 15 shall be applied to the case where the head of the Ministry or Board or the official delegated the authority pays the Treasury Fund, outside of the disbursements of the budget expenditure.
Art.50. The necessary provision required for the enforcement of this law shall be decided by the Cabinet Order.
Supplementary Provisions:
Art.1. The present Law shall come into force as from April 1, 1947. However, provisions of Chapter 7 and Art.48 shall be put into force as from the day of enforcement of the Constitution of Japan, and the date of enforcement of the provisions of Arts.12, 14 and 25 or the provisions of transferring bill of the national Treasury fund in this law, shall be decided separately by Cabinet Order.
Art.2. In this law "Cabinet Order" shall, until the enforcement of the Constitution of Japan, read "Imperial Ordinance."
Art.3. Art.1, or Art.6 of the present Account Law shall still prevail after the enforcement of this law, with regard to the conclusion of the accounting business of revenue and expenditure in the fiscal year of 1946, or the issue of the security of Ministry of Finance, borrowing of loan and its redemption in the same year.
Art.4. The Provisions of Arts.35 to 37 inclusive cf the present Account Law shall still prevail until the day of enforcement of the Constitution of Japan.
Art.5. The settlement of the account of revenue and expenditure shall be presented to extraordinary meeting of the next Diet.
Art.6. The investigation committee of the account organization shall be established temporarily in the Cabinet for the purpose of investigating the matters regarding the national account management and proposing the improving measures necessary for the account management to the Cabinet due to that result.
The investigation committee shall be organized with one president and less than six commissioners.
The post of the president of the Committee shall be occupied by Vice-Minister of Finance, and the Cabinet shall appoint the member of the Committee which consists of one from officials Board of Audit, two from officials of each Ministry and less than three out of learned and experienced persons.
For the purpose of adjusting the office of the investigation committee, several clerks shall be appointed in that Committee.
The investigation committee may authorize to submit and report the materials regarding the account management.
In case the investigation committee shall propose to the Cabinet according to the provision of paragraph 1, the Cabinet shall submit the necessary bill to the Diet.
In above case the notes regarding the proposal of the investigation committee shall be attached for reference. When it is necessary to abolish the investigation committee, necessary matters shall be provided by law.
Matters necessary for the investigation committee except the provisions of abovementioned paragraphs (excepting paragraph 6) shall be provided by the Cabinet Order.