(Purpose of this Law)
Article 1. The purpose of this Law is to establish basic standards concerning expenses paid by the State for travels which shall be made by national public employees and other persons for official business and thereby insure efficient administration of public affairs as well as proper disbursements of the expenditures of the State.
2 Travel expenses to be supplied by the State to national public employees (hereinafter referred to as "employees" ) and persons other than national public employees and travel expenses supplied to personnel of the Kodan established by laws and orders, the People's Finance Corporation, Housing Loan Corporation, the Japanese Governmeut Corporation for Housing of Allied Personnel and the Civilian Merchant Marine Committee shall, except where specific laws provide otherwise, be in accordance with the provisions of this Law.
(Meaning of the Terms)
Article 2. When used in this Law, the terms laiddown in the following items shall have meanings as indicated in the respective items:
(1) The term "Chief of each Agency" means the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the House of Councillors, the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General, the Minister of each Minitry, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the President of the Board of Audit, the President of the National Personnel Authority, the Presidents or Chairmen of the Kodan estadlished by laws and orders, the President of the People's Finance Corporation, the President of the Housing Loan Corporation, the Chairman of the Japanese Goverment Corporation for Housing of Allied Personnel and the Chairman of the Civilian Merchant Marine Committee;
(2) The term "domestic travel" means travel made in this country (which includes Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku, Kyushu and such other islands adjacent thereto as designated by Ministry of Finance Ordinance;hereinafter the same);
(3) The term "foreign travel" means travel made between this country and foreign countries (meaning the areas outside this country (inclusive of high seas);hereinafter the same) and travel in and between foreign countries;
(4) The term "temporary duty travel" means travelling of an employee on official business temporarily away from his office (or from residence in the case of an employee having no office to serve on full time basis) or travelling of a person other than employee on official business temporarily away from his residence;
(5) The term "travel to newly assigned office" means travel of a newly appointed employee from his residence to his office for removal in compliance with his appointment or travel of an incumbent employee from one office to another for removal in compliance with the change of his service;
(6) The term "home travel" means travel of an employee himself, his dependents or bereaved dependents to the place where they may sustain their living, after his separation from service or death;
(7) The term "dependents" means, in case of domestic travel, the spouse of an employee (including a person who, although report has not been filed on the marriage, has in fact been related to him in a manner similar to marriage;hereinafter the same), his children, parents, grandchildren, grandparents, brothers and sisters who are dependent on and supported by his income for the most part, and in case of foreign travel, the spouse of an employee and his children who are dependent on and supported by his income for the most part;
(8) The term "bereaved dependents" means the spouse of an employee, his children, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, and other relatives who lived together with the employee in one household at the time of his death.
2 The words "positions of the grade......" as used in this Law shall be the positions of the grade concerned according to the general salary schedule as prescribed in Article 6 paragraph 2 item (1) of the Law concerning the Compensation of Employees in the Regular Government Service (Law No.95 of 1950) and the positions corresponding thereto as the Chief of each Agency shall designate upon consultation with the Minister of Finance with regard to persons not governed by the said general salary schedule.
3 The words "place of......" or "...... place" as used in this Law shall mean the area of the city, town or village (or the whole area of special wards (ku) in case of To) within this country or similar area in a foreign country.
(Supply of Travel Expenses)
Article 3. An employee making a temporary duty travel or travel to newly assigned office shall be supplied with expenses for the travel.
2 In case an employee, his spouse or bereaved dependents fall under any of the following cases, travel expenses shall be supplied to the person mentioned in the item concerned:
(1) The employee, in case he is ordered, while making a temporary duty travel or a travel to newly assigned office in this country, to retire, to be dismissed, to lose his position or to be temporarily suspended from his service (hereinafter referred to as "retirement, etc." )(excluding cases where travel is not required in connection with retirement, etc.);
(2) The bereaved dependents of an employee, in case the employee dies while making a temporary duty travel or a travel to newly assigned office within this country;
(3) The bereaved dependents of an employee, in case the employee dies after more than two years of service and thereupon his bereaved dependents in this country make a home travel departing from their place of residence within three months from the day following the date of death;
(4) The employee, in case he if ordered retirement, etc. at his official duty place in a foreign country and makes a home travel to this country within a certain period of time or he is ordered retirement, etc. during a temporary duty travel or a travel to newly assigned office to or from a foreign country (exclusive of cases where travel is not required in connection with the retirement, etc.);
(5) The bereaved dependents of an employee, in case the employee dies at his official duty place in a foreign country or during a temporary duty travel or a travel to newly assigned office in foreign travel;
(6) The bereaved dependents (only spouse and children) of an employee, in case the employee dies and thereupon, the bereaved dependents residing in a foreign country make a home travel departing from their place of residence within three months from the day following the date of death;
(7) The employee, in case the spouse of the employee serving in a foreign country dies at his official duty place or dies during foreign travel falling under Article 38 paragraph 1 item (1) or (2).
3 If an employee, in case falling under item (1) or (4) of the preceding paragraph, is ordered retirement, etc. due to the causes stated Article 38 items (2) to (5) inclusive or respective item of Article 82 of the National Public Service Law (Law No.120 of 1947) or similar causes, he shall not be supplied with travel expenses provided for in the preceding paragraph, regardless of its provisions.
4 In case those who are expected to be appointed newly as employees have appeared in person in response to the call, they shall be supplied with travel expenses.
5 Employees or those other than employees who make a travel at the request or demand of agencies of the State to assist execution of official business as a witness, expert witness, interpreter, etc. shall be supplied with travel expenses.
6 In case laws specifically provide for or in case there is the necessity to let persons travel at the expenses of the State, excepting cases prescribed in paragraphs 1, 2, 4 and the preceding paragraph, travel expenses shall be supplied.
7 In cases where a person who is eligible to receive the supply of travel expenses under paragraphs 1 and 2 and paragraph 4 to the preceding paragraph inclusive (including his dependents, if he can receive the supply of expenses for their travel;hereinafter the same in this Article) has the travel order mentioned in Article 4 paragraph 3 cancelled or has died before starting on travel, if there is an amount of money already paid out as expenses of the travel, the portion of the said amount which is sustained as an actual loss on the part of the person shall be given as travel expenses, as may be provided for by Ministry of Finance Ordinance.
8 In case a person who can receive the supply of travel expenses under paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 to 6 inclusive loses a part or the whole of the amount of money supplied by rough estimate as travel expenses (as to a person who has no been supplied with travel expenses by rough estimate, the amount of money to be suppliable by rough estimate as travel expenses) owing to traffic accidents during travel, travel expenses as provided for by Ministry of Finance Ordinance within the amount of money lost may be supplied.
(Travel Order, etc.)
Article 4. Travels mentioned in the following items shall be made, according to the classifications mentioned therein, by the travel order or by the travel request (hereinafter referred to as "travel order, etc." ) issued by the Chief of each Agency or a person delegated by him (hereinafter referred to as "travel authorizing officer" ):
(1) Travel falling under the provision of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article...... Travel Order;
(2) Travel falling under the provision of paragraph 4 or 5 of the preceding Article...... Travel request.
2 The travel authorizing officer may issue a travel order, etc. only when the official business cannot be smoothly performed by means of communications such as telegraph, telephone, post service, etc., and moreover the budget can afford to disburse the expenses of travel.
3 The travel authorizing officer may amend (including cancellation;hereinafter the same), wherever he deems it necessary and in case falling under the preceding paragraph, the already issued travel order, etc. at his own discretion or at the request of a traveller under the provisions of Article 5 paragraph 1 or 2.
4 The travel authorizing officer shall issue or amend travel order, etc. by delivering a written statement of travel order or a written statement of travel request (hereinafter called "written travel order, etc." );provided that if he has not time enough to deliver a written travel order, etc., he may issue or amend travel order, etc. verbally.
5 In case the travel authorizing officer has issued or amended travel, order, etc. verbally, he shall deliver a written travel order to the traveller concerned as early as possible thereafter.
6 The matters to be stated and the form of the written travel order, etc. shall be provided for by Ministry of Finance Ordinance.
(Travel not in compliance with Travel Order, etc.)
Article 5. If a traveller finds it impossible, due to the necessity of official business or to natural disaster or other inevitable cause, to travel in compliance with the given travel order, etc.(including the travel order, etc. amended in accordance with the provision of paragraph 3 of the preceding Article;hereinafter the same in this Article), he shall apply for an amendment of the travel order, etc. to the travel authorizing officer in advance.
2 In case a traveller has not time enough to apply for the amendment of the travel order, etc. under the preceding paragraph, he shall apply for the amendment of the travel order, etc. to the travel authorizing officer as early as possible after he has made a travel not in compliance with the travel order, etc.
3 When a traveller has made a travel not in compliance with the travel order, etc. in case he has not applied for amendment of the travel order, etc. or in case he has not been given authorization for its amendment although he has applied for it, in accordance with the preceding two paragraphs, he shall be supplied with travel expenses only for the part of travel authorized by the travel order.
(Kind of Travel Expenses)
Article 6. Travel expenses shall comprise railway fare, passage fare, flight fare, traffic charge, per diem allowance, lodging expense, boarding expense, transfer expense, after-arrival expense, dependents'transfer expense, outfit allowance and expense for disposal and transportation of the dead.
2 Railway fare shall be supplied for travel by railway by giving passenger fare and others according to the mileage.
3 Passage fare shall be supplied for travel by ship by giving passenger fare and others according to the mileage.
4 Flight fare shall be supplied for travel by air by giving passenger fare according to the mileage.
5 Traffic charge shall be supplied for travel by road (except by railway;hereinafter the same) on the basis of fixed rate per kilometer or in the amount of actual expense required according to the mileage.
6 Per diem allowance shall be supplied in the fixed amount per day according to the number of days spent during travel.
7 Lodging expense shall be supplied in the fixed amount per night according to the number of nights spent during travel.
8 Boarding expense shall be supplied in the fixed amount per night for travel by ship or air according to the number of nights spent during travel.
9 Transfer expense shall be supplied in the fixed amount according to the mileage for removal of household goods in connection with a travel to newly assigned office.
10 After-arrival expense shall be supplied in the fixed amount for travel to newly assigned office.
11 Dependents'transfer expense shall be supplied for removal of dependents in connection with a travel to newly assigned office.
12 Outfit allowance shall be supplied in the fixed amount in case of temporary duty travel to or travel to newly assigned office in foreign country.
13 Expense for disposal and transportation of the dead shall be supplied in the fixed amount and others in case falling under Article 3 paragraph 2 item (5) or (7).
14 For domestic travel, the travel expense on daily amount basis may be supplied in stead of the supply of travel-expenses enumerated in paragraph 1.
15 For foreign travel, travel allowance may be paid in stead of travel expenses enumerated in paragraph 1.
(Computation of Travel Expenses)
Article 7. Travel expenses shall be computed according to the expenses required for the travel made along the most economical usually travelled route and in the most economical way;provided that in case it is impossible to travel along the most economical usually travelled route or in the most economical way due to the necessity of official business or due to a natural disaster or other inevitable cause, the expenses shall be computed on the basis of the route and the way actually taken.
Article 8. The number of days of travelling for computation of travel expenses shall be the number of days actually spent for the travel, except in cases falling under paragraph 3; provided that, excepting the number of days spent due to the necessity of official business or to natural disaster or other inevitable cause, it shall not exceed the number of days computed by counting travel by railway for every four hundred kilometers, by ship for every two hundred kilometers, or by road for every fifty kilometers as one day travel, respectively.
2 Fractions less than one day produced in the computation in the case under the proviso to the preceding paragraph shall be counted as one day.
3 In cases falling under Article 3 paragraph 2 items (1) to (4) inclusive and item (6), the number of days of travelling for computation of travel expenses shall be the number of days of travelling computed under the proviso to paragraph 1 and the preceding paragraph.
Article 9. The per diem allowance and the lodging expense for sojourn in the same place (meaning the area according to the classification under the provision of Article 2 paragraph 3;hereinafter the same in this Article), if the period of sojourn exceeds thirty days counting from the day following the date of arrival at the said place, shall be the amount obtained by deducting twenty per cent of the fixed amount with respect to the number of days in excess of thirty days and, if the period of sojourn excess of sixty days, the amount obtained by deducting thirty per cent of the fixed amount with respect to the number of days in excess of sixty days.
2 If, while staying in the same place, a temporary duty travel is made temporarily to other place, the period of days for such travel shall be deducted from the period of days of sojourn mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Article 10. In case a person, who resides or stays for private business in a place other than his official duty place or place of temporary duty travel, makes a travel direct from such place of residence or stay and the amount of expenses for travel from the place of residence or stay to its destination is larger than that of expenses for travel from his official duty place or place of temporary duty travel to the destination, travel expenses required for travel from his official duty place or place of temporary duty travel to the destination shall be supplied for the travel.
Article 11. In case the fixed rates of per diem allowance or lodging expense is caused to vary in connection with travel in the course of the same day, the per diem allowance or lodging expense as computed according to the higher rate shall be supplied.
Article 12. In case it is necessary to compute in divisions the railway fare, passage fare, flight fare or traffic charge (including portions of dependents'transfer expenses corresponding to these travel expenses) due to the change of a fiscal year, the change of the grade of position, etc., during travel by railway, ship, air or road, the travel expenses shall be computed by dividing the itinerary into the part up to the arrival at the first destination and the part after that.
(Procedures relating to the Claim for Payment of Travel Expenses)
Article 13. A traveller who wants to receive the supply of travel expenses (including travel expenses supplied in roughly estimated payment) or a traveller who was supplied with travel expenses in roughly estimated payment and who will make a claim for settlement of account shall submit the specified written claims for payment of travel expenses together with necessary documents to be attached thereto verifying the payment to the person in charge of disbursing the travel expenses concerned (hereinafter referred to as "disbursing officer, etc." ). In this case, any person who has failed to submit the whole or a part of the necessary attached documents cannot receive the amount of travel expenses as claimed corresponding to the amount of travel expenses for which the need was not clarified due to the failure to submit the documents.
2 A traveller who was supplied with travel expenses in roughly estimated payment shall make the settlement of account of the travel expenses as prescribed in the preceding paragraph within the specified period of time after completion of his travel.
3 If there is a sum of money to be refunded by the traveller from the travel expenses he was supplied with upon the settlement of account as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the disbursing officer, etc. shall have the traveller refund the said sum of money within the specified period of time.
4 In case a traveller supplied with travel expenses in roughly estimated payment by the disbursing officer, etc. fails to make the settlement of account within the period of time as mentioned in paragraph 2 or fails to refund the money within the period of time as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the disbursing officer, etc. shall deduct the amount corresponding to the amount of the expenses supplied in roughly estimated payment or the amount to be refunded from the compensation or the travel expenses of the traveller to be paid by the disbursing officer, etc. thereafter.
5 The kinds, the matters to be stated and the forms of the written claims and documents attached thereto mentioned in paragraph 1, the periods of time in paragraphs 2 and 3 and the kind of the compensation in the preceding paragraph shall be determined by Ministry of Finance Ordinance.
(Travel Expenses for Persons Expected to be Appointed)
Article 14. Travel expenses suppliable in accorddance with the provision of Article 3 paragraph 4 shall be such travel expenses as are commensurate with the position to be newly assumed computed following the example of the travel to newly assigned office.
(Travel Expenses for Witness, etc.)
Article 15. Travel expenses suppliable in accordance with Article 3 paragraph 5 or 6 shall, except where specific laws provide otherwise, be determined by the Chief of each Agency upon consultation with the Minister of Finance.