On May 6, 2025, King&Capital Law Firm's Criminal Department successfully held the thirteenth issue of the series of activities of “Criminal Case Thinking and Debating”. The theme of this seminar is “criminal defense under the management of misdemeanor”.
The activity was shared by Mr. Qi Xiaoling, Mr. Zhou Wenda and Mr. Key, and moderated by Mr. Zhao Dexuan, a trainee lawyer. The activity took the form of combination of offline lectures and online live broadcasting, with many lawyers attending and more than 3,000 people listening online. The event focused on criminal defense under the governance of misdemeanor, and jointly discussed how to accurately grasp the key points of defense in misdemeanor cases to truly realize effective defense.
Zhao Dexuan
At the beginning of the event, the host, Zhao Dexuan, pointed out the important position of misdemeanor governance in the current criminal justice, which is not only a hot topic, but also a key issue faced by criminal defense lawyers in their daily work. This seminar is not only an in-depth practice of criminal justice policy, but also an active exploration of the pursuit of business excellence by first-line criminal defense lawyers, aiming to explore how to show professional value in misdemeanor cases and stick to the bottom line of defense.
Xiaoling Qi
Ms. Qi Xiaoling, a senior partner of King&Capital Law Firm, shared the topic of “Enhancing Criminal Defense Skills in the Context of Misdemeanor Management”, in which she mentioned that the crime structure is undergoing a remarkable transformation, with the rate of felonies declining and the rate of misdemeanors rising. The “Strike Hard” policy has given way to a criminal justice policy that “combines leniency with severity” and “prioritizes leniency”. As the structure of crime changes, the criminal procedure system has also undergone a series of reforms.
Attorney Qi Xiaoling highlighted the plea bargaining system, which has been rapidly promoted in judicial practice since it was written into the Criminal Procedure Law in 2018, and which has faced many controversies in its application, such as the courts' view that the Procuratorate's sentencing recommendations have eroded the right to trial, the prosecutors' complaints about a significant increase in their workload, the public security authorities' lack of motivation, and the prosecutors' attachments to the defendant's appeal. The question of whether resistance to prosecution is an improper use of the state's public weapon.
In the discussion of misdemeanor cases entrusted to the willingness to defend, Qi Xiaoling lawyer said that, despite the increase in the number of misdemeanor cases, but the business of criminal defense lawyers did not grow accordingly, but rather a sense of shrinkage. She said, this is mainly because of misdemeanor cases with weak ability to pay, strong judgment, light legal consequences, no detention leads to a sense of urgency, small space for defense and other characteristics. However, she also stressed that the era of misdemeanor cases also brings opportunities for the legal profession, the promotion of the rule of law in accordance with the current comprehensive rule of law so that the rule of law in crime management continues to improve, the increase in the number of cases prompted lawyers to pay attention to the new types of crimes and minor crimes, procedural pluralism at the same time the right to defense can not derogate from the implementation of the policy of caution and prudence in arrest and detention of the lawyers are also required to provide professional services in more links, “lawyers should focus on improving their skills, including early intervention in cases, quick response, the ability to fine-tune cases, finding a more precise direction for defense, strengthening cooperation with clients, and improving communication skills.”
Zhou Wenda
Mr. Zhou Wenda, a partner of King&Capital Law Firm, shared the topic of “Changes and Constants of Defense Work in Misdemeanor Governance”.
In terms of the background and current situation of misdemeanor management, Mr. Zhou mentioned that both policy-driven and practical features are very obvious: the leniency system of guilty plea and punishment established by the revision of the Criminal Procedure Law in 2018, the special activity of reviewing the necessity of detention carried out by the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office (SPPO), the Procuratorial Reform Work Plan issued by the SPPO in 2023, and the sealing system of records of minor crimes to be set up in 2024, etc., all of these provide solid policy support for the management of misdemeanor. Policy support. From a practical point of view, a large number of new misdemeanor crimes have been added to the amendments to the Criminal Law in recent years, such as Amendment 7 to the Criminal Law, which added the crime of selling illegally obtained citizens' personal information, Amendment 8 to the Criminal Law, which added the crime of dangerous driving, and Amendment 11 to the Criminal Law, which added the crime of obstructing safe driving.
For the changes in defense work under the governance of misdemeanor crimes, attorney Zhou Wenda put forward four key dimensions. On the concept of defense, lawyers should flexibly adjust their strategies according to the specific circumstances of the case to avoid over-complexity; on the value orientation, it is necessary to shift from adversarial defense to consultative defense, he took a dangerous driving case he handled as an example, and elaborated in detail on the process of ultimately obtaining the result of non-prosecution for the client through active negotiation with the procuratorial authorities; on the focus of the defense, it is necessary to shift from courtroom defense to pre-courtroom defense, and attach importance to sentencing step defense in the consultation defense; procedural nodes, with the increase of minor crime cases and the wide application of speedy trial procedures, the 'golden period' of procedural nodes is advancing. Zhou pointed out that many minor cases may enter the speedy trial procedure within 10 days, and lawyers need to recognize this change in the procedural nodes; 7 days may be more critical for minor cases, and intervene in the case in advance to better safeguard the rights and interests of the parties.
At the same time, he also emphasized the unchanging roots of defense work, including the unchanging bottom-line standard of strict examination of evidence, the unchanging bottom-line principle of safeguarding the rights of the client, the unchanging goal of pursuing the maximization of the client's interests, the unchanging standard of subconsciously producing legal documents, as well as adhering to the professional ethics of the red line not to be touched, and so on.
guanjian
Combining his own rich experience in handling cases, attorney Key shared the practical points around the forward shift of the center of gravity in criminal defense.
In the sharing titled “Criminal Defense under Misdemeanor Governance--Forward Shift of Defense Center of Gravity”, he pointed out that when measuring the level of lawyers, they should not only focus on the performance of the court trial; in misdemeanor cases, the pre-trial work is often more critical, and lawyers should shift from trial debaters to pre-trial negotiators.
Key lawyers through a number of actual cases, vividly demonstrated the importance of pre-trial work and specific methods. In the analysis of a party to the surrender of doubtful cases, he studied the details of the case, apply for access to cell phone electronic data, and ultimately for the party to the surrender and merit; in dealing with cases involving non-sorbent company salesman, he reminded the party to confess truthfully, to avoid the loss of surrender due to lack of understanding of the law; in the handling of a case of assault on a police officer, he in the review of the arrest of the urgent time, and actively to obtain the victim's When handling a case of assaulting a police officer, within the tight timeframe for review and approval of arrest, he actively obtained the victim's understanding, carefully analyzed the circumstances of the case, and succeeded in changing the charge and securing a non-prosecution result. He also shared a complex case that was going through the second session, discussed the judge's intention and the direction of the case, and emphasized that negotiation is more important than confrontation in misdemeanor cases, and that lawyers should be good at capturing the judge's intention and adjusting the defense strategy.
Nie Sufang
At the end of the three lawyers' sharing, Ms. Nie Sufang spoke highly of the three lawyers' sharing. She pointed out that one of the important reasons for the low proportion of lawyers in misdemeanor cases is that the parties and the society at large don't have enough knowledge about the role of lawyers in misdemeanor cases, however, we can see that even in misdemeanor cases, defense lawyers are still promising, and the requirements of misdemeanor cases on the ability of lawyers are no less than those of felony cases. Requirements for the ability of lawyers in misdemeanor cases are no less than in felony cases, and even in some aspects of the requirements are more refined and specialized. She said, the three lawyers all coincidentally mentioned the importance of negotiation defense in misdemeanor cases, also shows that misdemeanor cases on the ability of lawyers to communicate and negotiate higher requirements, “misdemeanor cases in the grasp of the scale of the defense, but also more a test of the lawyer's courage and wisdom.”
Ma Lixi
Ma Lixi, on the other hand, put forward his own insights on the cases shared by the key lawyers, proposing that if the particular behavior demonstrated by the evidence in the case is obviously unfavorable to the determination of the subjective intent of the parties, the lawyers need to focus on the usual way of behavior of the parties when facing the special relations, in order to draw the conclusion of whether the behavior involved in the case is abnormal or not.
Ma lawyer said, we need to go beyond the limitations of the evidence in the case, through the discovery of favorable objective facts outside the case and digging the corresponding evidence, and the evidence in the case of the legal facts to do comparison. He cited an example from the perspective of the parties themselves, when they face a special relationship with the person who committed an act is not abnormal than in the past, it can be used to challenge the public prosecutor's presumption of the existence of the subjective criminal intent of the parties due to the specific behavior.
Zhu Yonghui
Mr. Zhu Yonghui, Director of Beijing King&Capital Law Firm, made a concluding speech. He pointed out that misdemeanors occupy a large proportion of criminal cases, lawyers should pay attention to misdemeanor defense work, in seemingly insignificant small cases to show professional standards, for the parties to maximize the legitimate interests, so as to regain the confidence of the criminal defense, to win the community's renewed understanding of the work of lawyers and trust.
With China's misdemeanor governance background of the judicial system, supporting policies continue to improve, the role of criminal defense lawyers in which is crucial. This activity provides a platform for lawyers to have an in-depth communication and learning, and the wonderful sharing of the speakers provides new ideas and methods for the industry in the work of misdemeanor defense. King&Capital lawyers have long been constantly improving their own professional ability, and strive to provide better legal services for their clients, and to promote the work of criminal defense in the field of misdemeanor to achieve new development.
