Chapter I. General Provisions

Article 1. The Diet Secretariat personnel in this Law means the Secretary-General, Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries and Clerks attached to the Secretariat of each House of the Diet, the Qualified Specialists and Clerks of the Standing Committees, the Chief Librarian, Assistant Librarian, Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries and Clerks of the Diet Library, and the Chief Secretary and Secretaries of the Court of Impeachment and the Indictment Committee.

Chapter II. Qualifications

Article 2. The Diet Secretariat personnel shall not be persons as falling within any of the following clauses: 1. Persons adjudged as incompetent or quasiincompetent; 2. Persons who have been condemned to penal servitude or confinement and whose term of punishment has not been completed or is yet to be executed; 3. Persons dismissed from government or official position by disciplinary measures within a period of two years past.

Article 3. The Clerks of the Secretariat of each House, Clerks of Standing Committee, Clerks of the Diet Library, or Clerks of the Court of Impeachment or of the Indictment Committee shall be appointed from among persons who possess one of the following qualifications: 1. Persons who have engaged in secretarial or technical works for more than four (4) years in the Secretariat of each House, the Diet Library the Court of Impeachment or the Indictment Committee; 2. Persons qualified to serve as government officials of the third class; 3. Persons designated by the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee as possessing the qualifications equal to or higher than those of the persons coming under one of the preceding items; 4. Persons who possess scholastic attainments or experiences considered necessary for discharging their duties and have been selected by the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee.

Article 4. Secretaries or Assistant Secretaries of the Secretariat of each House, Secretaries or Assistant Secretaries of the Diet Library, or Chief Secretary of the Court of Impeachment or the Indictment Committee shall be appointed from among persons who possess one of the following qualifications: 1. Persons who have occupied for more than eight (8) years the office as a Clerk of the Secretariat of each House, Clerk of Standing Committees, Clerk of the Diet Library or Clerk of the Court of Impeachment or the Indictment Committee; 2. Persons qualified to be appointed as government official of the second class; 3. Persons designated by the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee as possessing the qualifications equal to or higher than those of the persons coming under the preceding items; 4. Persons who possess scholastic attainments or experiences considered necessary for discharging their duties and have been selected by the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee.

Article 5. The Assisstant Secretary-General or Chief of the Division shall be appointed from among the secretaries who possses one of the following qualifications: 1. Persons who have occupied for more than ten (10) years the office of Secretaries or Assistant Secretaries of the Secretariat of each House; 2. Persons qualified to be appointed as government officials of the first class; 3. Persons who possess scholastic attainments or experiences considered necessary for discharging their duties and have been selected by the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee.

Chapter III. Transfer and Tenure of Office

Article 6. The Diet secretariat personnel may be transferred among the Secretariat of each House, the Diet Library, the Court of Impeachment and the Indictment Committee, under the similar conditions according to their qualifications.

Article 7. The Diet Secretariat personnel, except the Secretary-general of the Secretariat of each House and Qualified Specialists of Standing Committees, may become government officials, and vice versa, under the similar conditions according to their qualifications.

Article 8. The years during which he occupied the office as a government official shall be regarded as the years during which he would have occupied the office as a Diet Secretariat Personnel, according to the Provisions fixed by the Presidents of both Houses on their consultation.

Chapter IV. Service Limitation

Article 9. The Diet Secretariat personnel shall not be subjected to any pay reduction against their will, unless such reduction is due to suspension from service or disciplinary measures.

Article 10. The Diet Secretariat personnel shall not be dismissed except in the case of criminal or disciplinary punishment or under the provision of Article 11.

Article 11. In case a Diet Secretariat personnel comes under any of the following items, such a person may be dismissed: 1. If a person is unable to discharge his duties due to deformity, disablement, or physical or mental weakness; 2. If a person applied for dismissal himself. The dismissal to be effected under item 1 of the preceding paragraph shall be subjected to the examination of the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee.

Article 12. Any Diet Secretariat official who was suspended from office under the provisions of Article 13, paragragh 1, items 3 to 5 inclusive and whose term of suspension has expired, shall be considered the retired.

Article 13. Any Diet Secretariat official, who comes under any of the following items, may be suspended from service: 1. In case a person has been referred to the examination of the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee for the purpose of disciplinary measures; 2. In case a person has been indicted for a criminal offence; 3. In case a post occupied by a person has been abolished or the surplus of personnel has occurred due to the change of the required number of the staff; 4. In case a personnel requires a long-term rest due to physical or mental disability; 5. In case the suspension is required for reasons of office work. The suspension of a personnel from service under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, items 4 and 5, shall be subjected to the examination of the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee. The term of suspension to be effected under the provision of paragraph 1 shall be, in case of items 1 and 2, the period during which the matter is pending either in the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examnination Committee or in a law-court;and, in case of items 3 to 5, full one year.

Article 14. A person, during the suspension of service, retains his or her official status, but shall not be engaged in official duties. A person who has been suspended from service under the provisions of the preceding Article, paragraph 1, items 3 to 5 inclusive, may be reinstated to office whenever considered necessary for reasons of office work.

Article 15. The suspension of service and the reinstatement to office shall be effected by those in authority for the appointment of the personnel.

Article 16. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to the Secretary-General of each House and the Chief Librarian.

Chapter V. Service

Article 17. The Diet Secretariat personnel while engaged in the Diet work shall consider it a principal object to serve the whole nation by discharging their duties with fairness, impartiality and sincerity.

Article 18. The Diet Secretariat personnel in discharging their duties shall obey the orders of their superior officials. However, this does not prevent them from expressing their opinions.

Article 19. The Diet Secretariat personnel, unless authorized by the officials to whom they are subordinate, shall not divulge any secret which has been obtained on their service. The same shall apply to the persons who have left the post.

Article 20. The Diet Secretariat personnel shall refrain from any conduct, whether on duty or off duty, which may be of discredit to them.

Article 21. The Diet Secretariat personnel shall not be appointed as staff members or employees of any profit seeking business organizations, or shall not be engaged in any business which aims to gain profits. In case it is considered unadvisable from the view point of performing the duties for any Diet Secretariat official to be a staff member or employee of any non-profit-seeking business organization or to be engaged in any business which has no object of gaining profits, the chief official to whom that person is subordinate may prohibit him from doing so.

Article 22. The Diet Secretariat personnel shall not be engaged in any paid service other than that as a Diet Secretariat official without the authorization of his chief.

Article 23. The Diet Secretariat official shall not leave his post at his convenience unless the authorization of his chief is obtained.

Article 24. The working hours, place of residence, uniforms and other matters necessary for discharging the duties of the Diet Secretariat personnel shall be determined by their respective chiefs.

Chapter VI. Salaries and Pensions

Article 25. The members of the Diet Secretariat personnel shall receive salaries while in service. The Diet Secretariat personnel may receive necessary allowances or other grants, other than their salary. The provisions pertaining to salaries, allowances and other grants shall be determined by the Presidents of the two Houses of the Diet, consulting with a Joint Examination Committee of the Standing Committees for House Management of the Houses.

Article 26. A Diet Secretariat official who is suspended from service shall receive one third of the amount of his or her salary during the term of such suspension.

Article 27. In case a Diet Secretariat official retires or dies, he or his bereaved family shall receive pension, according to the provisions fixed by a separate law.

Chapter VII. Disciplinary Measures

Article 28. Except the Secretary-General of the Secretariat of each House and the Chief Librarian, all Diet Secretariat personnel shall be subjected to disciplinary measures, if they come under any of the following items: 1. In case of acting in contravention or in negligence of official duties, 2. In case of committing any conduct, whether on duty or off duty, which discredits them.

Article 29. Disciplinary measures shall be as follows: 1. Admonition; 2. Reduction in salary; 3. Dismissal.

Article 30. Reduction in salary shall be effected by reducing the salary by less than one third for a period not less than one month and not more than once year.

Article 31. Disciplinary measures shall be executed by persons in authority for the appointment of the personnel, through the examination of the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee.

Article 32. While a case to be subjected to disciplinary measures is pending in a criminal court, the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee shall not be convoked for the purpose of taking disciplinary measures on the same case. If criminal proceedings have been started against a Diet Secretariat official to be subjected to disciplinary measures before a decision is reached by the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee, the Committee shall suspend its sittings until the sentence is given thereupon.

Chapter VIII. Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee

Article 33. In order to examine matters concerning the qualifications, service limitations and disciplinary measures of the Diet Secretariat personnel, the Secretariats of the Houses, the Diet Library, the Court of Impeacement and the Indictment Committee shall each institute a Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee.

Article 34. Each Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee shall consist of a chairman and several committee members.

Article 35. The chairmanship of the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee instituted in the Secretariat of each House shall be taken over by the Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the House concerned and the membership of the Committee shall be taken over by the Assistant Secretary-General and Directors of each Division of the Secretariat of the House concerned, the Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the other House as well as the Chief Librarian and the Assistant Librarian.

Article 36. The chairmanship of the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee instituted in the Diet Library shall be assumed by the Chief Librarian and the membership of the Committee shall be assumed by the Assistant Chief Librarian, the Secretaries of the Diet Library nominated by the Chief Librarian, as well as Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General of both Houses.

Article 37. The chairmanship of the Diet Secretariat Personnel Investigation Committee instituted in the Court of Impeachment shall be assumed by the Presiding Judge of the Court of Impeachment and the membership of the Committee shall be assumed by the Chief Secretary of the Court of Impeachment as well as the Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General of the both Houses.

Article 38. The chairmanship of the Diet Secretariat Personnel Investigation Committee instituted in the Indictment Committee shall be assumed by the Chairman of the Indictment Committee and the membership of the Committee shall be assumed by the Chief Secretary of the Indictment Committee as well as the Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General of both Houses.

Article 39. Several secretaries shall be attached to the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee. They shall be appointed from among Diet Secretariat personnel by the chairman of each committee.

Article 40. The provisions concerning the Diet Secretariat Personnel Examination Committee shall be determined by the Presidents of both Houses, consulting with a Joint Examination Committee of the Standing Committee for House Mainagement of the Houses.