On October 22, 2025, the sixteenth series of activities of “Criminal Case Thinking and Debating” of Criminal Department of Beijing King&Capital Law Firm and the sixth series of “Lectures on Enterprise-related Legal Practice” of Beijing Enterprise Legal Risk Prevention and Control Research Association were successfully held.
The activity was hosted by Ms. Liu Ling, a member of Criminal Committee of All China Lawyers Association, Mr. Chen Fei, a partner of King&Capital Law Firm, as the main speaker, Prof. Peng Xinlin from Law School of Beijing Normal University and Prof. Wang Zhenhui, vice president of Institute of Litigation Law of China University of Political Science and Law were invited as the guest speakers, and more than 1,000 people participated in this activity both on-line and off-line.
At the beginning of the event, the host, Liu Ling, pointed out that enterprise-related crime cases usually occur in the process of enterprise operation or related to enterprise operation activities, involving more crimes, in recent years, the criminal justice policy on enterprise-related crimes has been adjusted from the past purely to combat crime, and gradually transformed into “leniency and severity, punishment and prevention”, which provides a new space for defense lawyers to defend themselves. This provides a new space for defense lawyers.
She introduced, in practice, many lawyers will use criminal policy to carry out defense, such as the “CPC Central Committee and State Council on the promotion of the development and growth of the private economy of the opinions”, “the supreme people's court on the optimization of the rule of law environment to promote the development and growth of the private economy of the guiding opinions”, and 2020 supreme procuratorate issued the “six stable six guarantees” related opinions, etc., these policy documents are the defense of the lawyers. These policy documents are the authoritative weapon of the defense of lawyers, but also in recent years has refreshed the underlying logic of the defense of enterprise-related cases.
At the same time, Liu Ling emphasized that in the defense of enterprise-related cases, lawyers should not only in the legal framework based on the facts, evidence and legal defense, but also to penetrate the criminal policy, within the scope of the criminal policy to carry out three-dimensional, multi-level defense, in order to achieve effective defense. But how to penetrate, use criminal policy, let it play a role in the defense, is the event to explore the core issues.
Mr. Chen Fei shared how to use the policy defense for actual combat.
Mr. Chen Fei, partner of King&Capital Law Firm, shared in-depth information from theory to practice with the theme of “understanding criminal policy, dominating the pace and effect of defense in enterprise-related criminal cases”.
First of all, Mr. Chen Fei systematically sorted out the development of China's criminal policy, from the ancient idea of “no punishment for the duration of the sentence” to the “combination of punishment and leniency” after the founding of New China, and then to the “law of criminal punishment” after the Criminal Law of 1997 established the principle of “law of criminal punishment” and “law of criminal justice”. “After the establishment of the criminal law in 1997, the principle of ”leniency and severity" transition, clearly presenting the logic of policy evolution. He cited the views of scholars such as Chu Huizhi and Liang Genlin, and put forward the core assertion that “criminal policy is the soul of criminal law, and criminal law is the stereotyping of criminal policy”, emphasizing that the policy is by no means an “appendage to the law”, but rather an interpretation of the law, the interpretation of the law, the interpretation of the law, and the interpretation of the law. "It emphasizes that the policy is not an accessory to the law, but the key to interpret the law and guide the justice.
Mr. Chen Fei pointed out that there are many ways to obtain information about criminal policy and developments in the field of criminal procedure, but one of the most important ways, easily overlooked by everyone, is to pay attention to the themes of the annual meetings of the China Society of Criminal Law and the China Society of Criminal Procedure Law, which are the centralized response and cutting-edge thinking of the legal community to the most pressing criminal policy intentions. He added, “The Criminal Procedure Law, which is being put into effect and implemented, has been included in the revision plan, and until the revision of the new Criminal Procedure Law is completed, tapping into the value of the policy is the key to improving the quality of defense.”
Next, in order to make the policy application more tangible, Mr. Chen Fei shared a typical case he had handled. A policy bank in a city over 10 billion yuan of overdue loans, the local “clean-up and loss” special action, a number of loan tenants were sentenced. The party for undertaking historical loan debt and nearly 20 million new loan overdue to suspected fraudulent loan crime was arrested, the enterprise production and operation was paralyzed. After the intervention, Chen Fei team of lawyers “use criminal policy to achieve effective defense” work, the case became the first local case involving more than 100 million can be bail, triggered a strong reaction.
The success of the case thanks to the use of criminal policy, first of all, invoke the special policy, according to the supreme prosecutor's “special action for the judicial protection of private enterprises” policy, to the supreme prosecutor's submission of “problem reflection”. Secondly, coordinating and promoting the parties and the bank to reach an “installment repayment agreement”, the implementation of the “recovery and loss rather than punishment” orientation. Finally, the precise argumentation of innocence tendency, combined with the bank meeting records, proved that the loan process led by the bank, the party did not cheat intentionally, and the party could not return the new loan interest in a timely manner is “three years of epidemic” and commercial risk. Eventually, the prosecutor's office in the last day of the review and prosecution period will change the person concerned criminal coercive measures for release on bail pending trial, the enterprise resumed operation.
Finally, Chen Fei lawyer combined with many years of practical experience, summed up nine criminal policy practical experience. Including usually strengthen the national policy guidelines of regular learning, for the case defense policy accumulation of accurate use of theoretical reserves; comprehensive investigation, accurate grasp of the background of the case, the background and the case of organic integration; to ensure that the policy application of the accuracy and relevance; “the power of sincerity in order to move people”, show professionalism and credibility, pay attention to Usually do people cultivation, its importance is no less than the accumulation of policy learning; “the biggest secret of the defense is always for the sake of the other side” fully sympathetic to the pressure of the other side, the need to take into account the demands of all parties in the defense; objective, comprehensive introduction of the party's curriculum vitae, to avoid the subjective one-sided, so that the legal profession is more likely to be based on the facts of the case; emphasis on in-depth mining Emphasize the difference between this case and other cases, highlight the personality of the case; make good use of the compromise, the pursuit of win-win situation; grasp the legal advice to submit the best point in time.
At the same time, Mr. Chen Fei also put forward three action suggestions to the lawyers. That is, read the “two high” work reports, guidance cases, judicial policy documents, to maintain sensitivity to criminal policy, to ensure that the defense does not deviate from the policy guidance; based on the French language, combined with the language of the policy, will be the law, the evidence and the current criminal policy, to enhance the persuasive power of the instrument; defense strategy needs to reflect the high degree of pattern from the The defense strategy should reflect the height and pattern, and analyze the case from the perspective of “social decision-making and social governance”, so that the case-handling authorities can recognize the rationality and social value of the defense.
Prof. Peng Xinlin builds a “four-in-one” defense framework.
Prof. Peng Xinlin, Chairman of Beijing Enterprise Legal Risk Prevention and Control Research Association, systematically elaborated the defense methodology of enterprise-related criminal cases in the new era from the perspective of combining theory and practice with the topic of “Making good use of criminal policy and constructing new thinking on defense of enterprise-related criminal cases”.
Prof. Peng Xinlin pointed out that the enterprise-related criminal defense in the new era has long exceeded the single dimension of “confrontation of laws” or “evidence game” in the traditional sense, and is evolving into a “three-dimensional war” integrating policy understanding, evidence attack and defense, procedural game, property defense and risk prepositioning. The “three-dimensional war”. This battle is not only about the fate of individuals, but also the deeper texture of the rule of law in the business environment. Enterprise-related criminal defense can no longer be confined to the “technocratic” path of dependence - that is, only to talk about the elements, causality, evidence system and other traditional jurisprudence. In enterprise-related cases, the policy itself is the important background of the application of the law and the basis for adjudication, has become the defense of the “strategic weapons”, rather than empty rhetoric.
The current change in China's criminal justice attitude towards private enterprises is a quiet but far-reaching change, the core spirit of which can be summarized in two sentences: equal protection of the legitimate rights and interests of private economic subjects in accordance with the law, as well as resolutely preventing economic disputes from being treated as crimes. This policy orientation is not a slogan, but is taking root through a series of institutional arrangements, judicial interpretations and typical cases. The old concepts of “policy uselessness” or “policy emptiness” should be completely discarded. On the contrary, the policy should be regarded as the strategic starting point for enterprise-related criminal defense, study the policy wind direction, predict the direction of the case, and take the initiative to guide the case-handling authorities towards the “crime and non-crime” prudent judgment, instead of passively getting into the entanglement of the “crime and the crime”; attach importance to the use of policy It also emphasizes the use of policy terminology to build consensus with case handlers and enhance persuasive power, and pays attention to the invocation of specific policy documents to promote the change of coercive measures, exclusion of unlawful evidence, and the fight for separate trials.
Professor Peng Xinlin believes that effective criminal defense involving enterprises should be a synergy of evidence defense, sentencing defense, procedural defense and property defense. Evidence defense focuses on dismantling the chain of accusation and sticking to the bottom line of “crime and non-crime”, including challenging the closure and uniqueness of evidence, introducing professional knowledge and reconstructing the focus of controversy. Sentencing defense focuses on the policy of leniency and severity, and the pursuit of leniency and precision of punishment. When conviction is unavoidable, sentencing defense becomes the core battlefield to protect the interests of the parties. Surrender, guilty plea, return of stolen goods and restitution are the “golden plot” for leniency, but the application needs to be more refined. Procedural defense focuses on the activation of special systems to provide enterprises with a respite. In enterprise-related cases, procedural defense can often produce the effect of “four two pounds”, including the necessity of detention review, jurisdictional objections, illegal evidence exclusion, trial by case. Property defense focuses on maintaining the survival of the lifeblood of the enterprise and the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs, and preventing undue interference and erosion of the legitimate property of the enterprise by public power. Property defense is a very easy to be ignored in the defense of enterprise-related but crucial dimension, no less important than the conviction and sentencing defense. Practice has long existed in the “people light property” phenomenon. Property defense, in practice, the focus is to accurately grasp the scope of illegal income, protect the rights and interests of bona fide third party, the realization of property defense and sentencing defense organic linkage.
Lawyers for enterprise-related cases to provide effective defense, we can no longer be a “case on the case” of the craftsman, but must be a policy, proficient in law, make good use of the strategy of the “strategic defender”. We need to make good use of criminal policy to set the tone of the defense, through the evidence, sentencing, procedures, property defense to build a defense, and ultimately guide our corporate clients, the risk of prevention and control of the gate front, from the source to avoid the occurrence of criminal legal risks.
In addition, Prof. Peng also called on enterprises to pay attention to the prevention and control of criminal legal risks, and make efforts to build a criminal legal risk immunization system of “institutional firewall + monitoring and early warning network + emergency response mechanism”.
Prof. Wang Zhenhui pointed out the value of policy consensus
China University of Political Science and Law Institute of Procedural Law Vice President Prof. Wang Zhenhui, as the interlocutor, from the legal level to put forward the core viewpoint of criminal policy is the prosecution, defense and trial of the “consensus base”. Prof. Wang highly recognized the practice of Chen Fei's “macro-policy micro-miniaturization”, and suggested that in the fourth revision of the Criminal Procedure Law, the special procedures related to enterprises should be improved, such as “assessing the impact of business operation before detention” and “setting up escrow system”, so as to provide a better solution for the prosecution and the defense in the trial. Meanwhile, it is suggested that the fourth revision of the Criminal Procedure Law should improve the special procedures related to enterprises, such as “assessing the business impact of enterprises before detention” and “setting up an escrow system for enterprises involved in cases”, in order to provide more solid protection for the private economy.
He mentioned that criminal policy is the source and consensus base of the legal system. Although criminal policy is not a concrete legal provision, it is a macro-guidance concept and a scale for handling cases, and many legal provisions (such as the Law on the Promotion of the Private Economy and the Two High-level Judicial Documents Related to Enterprises) originate from the generalization and distillation of long-term policy practice; there may be differences in the understanding and application of legal provisions, but the macro-spirit of the policy (e.g., “leniency and strictness in a mutually supportive manner”, “equal protection of the private economy”, “equal protection of the private economy”) is not the source and consensus base of the legal system. “Equal protection of the private economy”), the prosecution, defense and trial of the three parties easy to reach a consensus. For example, “leniency and severity”, the prosecution, the court, lawyers, although interpretation of different perspectives, but the core of the agreement “the leniency of leniency, when the strictness of strictness”, can be based on this consensus to promote the communication of the case.
He believes that the law to stability, normative policy to provide support, policy through judicial interpretation, judicial documents and other forms of implementation to specific cases. Grasp the policy, you can more accurately determine the direction of the case, enhance the defense targeted. The core qualities of the defense of enterprise-related crimes are height, depth and temperature. Need to be based on the central policy documents, from the “social governance” perspective to grasp the case, rather than confined to the details of individual cases. Enterprise-related cases have many crimes, complex subjects (including natural persons and enterprises), legal relationships are intertwined, the need for “butchers” type of dismantling, to find the core contradictions. Enterprises are an important force for social employment and economic development, and the defense needs to convey the temperature of “protecting the survival of enterprises and reducing social losses”. In the future, the theoretical and practical circles need to strengthen the collaboration, promote the research on the substantive and procedural issues of enterprise-related crimes, and promote the “theory and practice” to run in both directions, so as to provide a more solid rule of law protection for the development of the private economy.
At the end of the event, Mr. Peng Jiyue, Director of the Criminal Law Department of King&Capital Law Firm, shared his insights.
PengJiYue lawyer that criminal policy is the lawyer defense “soft underbelly”, in judicial practice, lawyers on criminal policy sensitivity is far lower than the public prosecutors and supervisory organs, daily handling of cases, lawyers pay more attention to is the use of legal provisions and the chain of evidence corroboration, often ignored the value of the criminal policy, resulting in the defense of the criminal policy in the defense is not fully play a role. Give full play to the role of criminal policy in the defense.
He believes that the use of criminal policy need to realize the combination of macro and micro, before it also tried to use the relevant policies as a defense, but mostly stay in the macro level (such as mentioning the protection of the private economy, private entrepreneurs, the relevant policies), not like Chen Fei lawyers, and the details of the case in depth combination - such as “paralyzed greenhouses, employees are unemployed, piglets die” and other concrete circumstances are not included in the scope of application of the policy. In the future, we need to comprehensively study the criminal policy, and transform the macro policy into the micro concrete, so that the criminal policy is really effective in the defense of individual cases.
Follow-up activities:
The “criminal defense” series of activities is the King&Capital Law Firm criminal department in order to strengthen internal exchanges, improve the lawyer's criminal defense practical ability, and enhance the influence of the firm's criminal defense brand and specially set up the column. The column aims to promote the King&Capital Law Firm head office and branch offices, the firm and outside the peer, experts and scholars, the exchange and cooperation between the departments of the firm. The “Criminal Defense Talk” activity will be held once a month, and the next activity will continue to invite professionals to share and discuss.
