(Selected from the translated work titled The Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, authored by Robert Zhang and Steve Li, criminal defense lawyers registered in Shanghai, China.)
Article 16 No criminal case shall be filed, or the case shall be revoked, the prosecution shall not be initiated, the trial shall be terminated, or the defendant shall be declared innocent after a criminal case has been filed if:
the offense was committed under exceptionally attenuating circumstances with minor damage and is not deemed a crime;
the statute of limitations for prosecuting the offense has expired;
the offense has been pardoned by an amnesty;
the offense shall be subject to private prosecution in accordance with the Criminal Law, and no complaint has been filed or the complaint filed has been withdrawn;
the suspect or defendant dies; or
the offense shall be exempt from criminal responsibility in accordance with other laws.
