On 25 January 2021 the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued the Provisions on the Handling of Cybercrime Cases by the People's Procuratorates, which came into force on the same date.
The provisions comprise 65 articles spread across seven chapters. They include general provisions, as well as provisions on:
- the guided collection of evidence and case reviews;
- the review of electronic data; and
- court attendance in support of public prosecutions.
The provisions require the people's procuratorates to strengthen the penalties handed down in cybercrime cases and pay attention to examining and discovering the clues of upstream and downstream-related crimes. For a suspected crime, if the public security organ does not put it on file for investigation and should apply for approval of arrest but fails to do so – or if the case should be but is not transferred for prosecution – supervision must be carried out in accordance with the law.
