Part I General Provisions

Chapter XIV Preservation of Evidence

Article 179
(1) The accused, suspect, or the defense counsel may request of a judge a disposition on a seizure, search, inspection, witness examination or expert examination, only before the first trial date, and when there are circumstances which suggest that it will be difficult to use the evidence unless it is preserved in advance.
(2) The judge who has been so requested as prescribed in the preceding paragraph has the same authority as that of a court or a presiding judge with regard to a disposition.

Article 180
(1) The public prosecutor and the defense counsel may inspect and copy the documents and articles of evidence pertaining to the dispositions prescribed in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article in court; provided however, that defense counsel must receive permission from the judge to copy the articles of evidence.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the recording medium prescribed in the provisions of Article 157-4, paragraph (3) may not be copied.
(3) The accused or suspect may inspect the documents and articles of evidence prescribed in the paragraph (1) in court with the permission of the judge; provided however, that this does not apply when defense counsel is assigned to the accused or suspect.