(Selected from the translated work titled The Supreme People's Court's Interpretations on Issues Pertaining to the Application of 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.)
The Supreme People's Court's Interpretations on Issues Pertaining to the Application of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
Chapter I Jurisdiction
Article 1 Cases of private prosecution to be directly accepted by the people's courts shall include:
(1) The following cases that shall not be prosecuted except upon a complaint;
1. Cases of insult and defamation (as stipulated in Article 246 of the Criminal Law, except for those that seriously endanger social order and national interests);
2. Cases of violent intervention in marriage freedom (as stipulated in Article 257, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law);
3. Cases of abuse (as stipulated in Article 260, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law, except for those where the victim does not have the capacity to file a complaint or fails to file a complaint due to coercion or intimidation); and
4. Cases of embezzlement (as stipulated in Article 270 of the Criminal Law).
(2) The following minor criminal cases that the people's procuratorate has not prosecuted but the victim has evidence to prove the offense:
Cases of intentional injury (as stipulated in Article 234, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law);
Cases of encroachment in private residence (as stipulated in Article 245 of the Criminal Law);
Cases of infringement upon freedom of communication (as stipulated in Article 252 of the Criminal Law);
Cases of bigamy (as stipulated in Article 258 of the Criminal Law);
5. Cases of abandonment (as stipulated in Article 261 of the Criminal Law);
6. Cases of producing and selling counterfeit and inferior goods (as stipulated in Section 1 of Chapter 3 of the Criminal Law, except for those that seriously endanger social order and national interests);
7. Cases of infringement upon intellectual property rights (as stipulated in Section 7 of Chapter 3 of the Criminal Law, except for those that seriously endanger social order and national interests); and
8. Cases that may be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than three years or less severe penalties as stipulated in Chapters 4 and 5 of the Criminal Law.
Where the victim directly brings a complaint to the people's court in any case specified in this paragraph, the people's court shall accept it in accordance with the law.
Where the evidence is insufficient and the case is acceptable by the public security authority, or it is believed that the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than three years or more severe penalties, the people's court shall notify the victim to bring a complaint to the public security authority or refer the case to the public security authority for investigations.
(3) Cases for which the victims s have evidence to prove that the defendants should be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law because their acts have infringed upon the victims' personal or property rights, whereas, the public security organs or the People's Procuratorates do not investigate the criminal responsibility of the accused.
