Relevant laws and regulations: People's Republic of China (PRC) Criminal Procedure Law.
Article 277 In the following cases of public prosecution, the criminal suspect or defendant sincerely repents by means of compensation for losses or apology, and obtains the understanding of the victim. , and the victim voluntarily reconciled, both parties can reconcile:
(1) Being suspected of criminal cases stipulated in Chapters IV and V of the Specific Provisions of the Criminal Law due to civil disputes, and may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years.
(two) criminal cases of negligence other than dereliction of duty that may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than seven years.
If a criminal suspect or defendant intentionally commits a crime within five years, the procedures specified in this chapter shall not apply. The letter of understanding must be signed by the main family members (including parents, spouses, children, brothers and sisters) or the agents entrusted by the parties. You don't need everyone else to sign.
The purpose of issuing letters of understanding is to reduce the punishment of criminal suspects, and some can release criminal suspects on bail pending trial. Therefore, the letter of understanding is sent by the victim to the criminal's family, and the responsible lawyer generally handles specific cases for the criminal suspect.
If the premise of the letter of understanding causes harm to the victim, it shall be clearly stated that the compensation has been reached and the actual compensation has ended. If there is no harm to the victim, there is no need to express it, but the focus of the letter of understanding should be clear that the victim has understood and the victim requests to be exempted from investigating the criminal responsibility of the defendant (criminal suspect).
Extended data
The role of criminal understanding:
1. In cases where a settlement agreement is reached, the people's court shall give the defendant a lighter punishment.
2. Non-imprisonment penalty shall be applied if it meets the applicable conditions of non-imprisonment penalty.
3. If the statutory minimum penalty is still too heavy, the punishment may be mitigated.
4. Those who believe that the circumstances of the crime are minor and do not need to be sentenced to punishment may be exempted from criminal punishment.
* * * In the same criminal case, if some defendants reach a settlement agreement with the victim, they can be given a lenient punishment according to law, but attention should be paid to the balance of sentencing in the whole case.