On April 12, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) released its 61st batch of guiding cases, providing case-handling guidance for procuratorates nationwide in lawfully identifying new and concealed forms of bribery and accurately determining the amounts involved.
The five cases released this time cover prevalent types of bribery that have drawn significant public attention and sparked debate in judicial practice in recent years, including bribery involving inflated transaction procedures, interest-bearing loans, property transactions, investment returns, and anticipated returns on unlisted shares.
Characterized by the civil nature of bribery acceptance acts, market-based benefits transfer, and the anticipatory nature of the assets involved, such crimes are significantly different from traditional duty-related crimes. The released cases aim to play an important exemplary and guiding role in the law-based punishment of new and concealed bribery crimes.
Recently, the Supreme People's Court and the SPP jointly issued an updated judicial interpretation on the application of law in handling criminal cases of embezzlement and bribery. The interpretation clarifies rules for determining bribery amounts involving expected returns from stocks and equity interests.
Among the released cases, the handling of one bribery case aligns closely with the updated judicial interpretation. It delineates the scope, conditions, and amount determination of bribery through expected returns in a practical context, providing important guidance for unifying judicial standards.
According to the head of the SPP's Prosecutorial Department for Crimes of Dereliction of Duty, procuratorates will continue to integrate their duty performances into the overall supervision system of the Party and the State.
They will unswervingly advance the fight against corruption in a coordinated manner, and actively adapt to the new developments and requirements in the anti-corruption campaign.
They will see through the disguised forms of new and concealed corruption crimes, accurately identify their essence as exchanges of power for money, and ensure each duty-related crime case is handled with high quality and efficiency.
