[Direct answer]In the Beijing area, corporate criminal legal risk audits are typically conducted in five stages: 1. Identify potential criminal charges by analyzing the company's business scenarios and operational chains. 2. Conduct compliance checks on the management behaviors of key personnel and monitor fund flows, logistics, and data flows. 3. Verify whether existing institutional documents align with actual implementation. 4. Identify historical risks, including unresolved complaints, regulatory inquiries, and internal reports. 5. Develop rectification checklists and emergency response manuals, clarifying responsibilities and response procedures. These risk audits are typically conducted in accordance with regulations such as the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China and the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Tax Evasion, as well as the company's internal compliance management systems. The core purpose is not to assign blame, but to control risks within acceptable limits.

1. Problem background and typical scenarios

Many companies only realize for the first time that there are internal criminal risks when they receive investigation notifications from public security authorities. Common risk exposures are distributed in several areas: in the field of production safety, there are unauthorized operations, equipment running with hidden defects, and lack of emergency drills; in the field of finance and taxation, there are issues such as false invoicing, fraudulent tax refunds, and concealment of income; in the field of business procurement, there are issues such as commercial bribery and transfer of benefits; in the field of data and networks, employees posting inappropriate content on online platforms or leaking trade secrets to the outside world; and in the field of personnel management, there are issues such as lax vetting of new employees and inadequate handover procedures for departing employees.Criminal defense and criminal case filingIn these services, physical examinations are usually regarded as the first step of pre-emptive risk management.

II. Key points of contention

Focus One: Assessment of the distribution and severity of criminal risks. Focus Two: The boundaries between corporate crimes and individual crimes under criminal law—which situations should be borne by the company, and which should result in personal accountability. Focus Three: Whether there are formalistic procedures in the internal approval process. Focus Four: Whether the institutional documents align with the implementation records, forming a complete set of evidence for duty performance. Focus Five: Prioritization of handling historical legacy issues and new business operations. Focus Six: Spillover effects of criminal risks, including administrative penalties, revocation of qualifications, and damage to business reputation. Focus Seven: Contingency plans for emergencies and communication strategies with external stakeholders.

III. Professional analysis by Henglue Law Firm

When conducting criminal risk assessments for enterprises, Henglue Law Firm typically follows the approach of first identifying the behavior and then determining the liability, translating abstract legal provisions into specific behavioral scenarios. Taking a case handled by Attorney Liu Liqiang of our firm as an example: The incident occurred at a construction site. The defendant, who had an argument with others during a work discussion, then accelerated his car and rammed into a building structure. The vehicle crashed through the door and burst out of the back wall, resulting in one person being killed on the spot and two others injured. When reviewing all the materials of the case, the attorney noted several key details, including that the defendant's emotions were still unstable after the argument, that he had made verbal threats before the impact, that he continued to accelerate despite being less than five meters away from the target of the impact, and that he failed to take any evasive measures despite knowing that there were people indoors. These details are crucial because they correspond to the determination of subjective intent in criminal law, whether the object of the behavior is specific, and the classification of the crime. The implications for enterprises are equally direct: Conflicts among personnel in the workplace, daily communication, and the daily management of equipment and vehicles—any loss of control in any of these areas could transform operational risks into criminal risks. This case was handled by Beijing Henglue Law Firm.Liu LiqiangThe lawyer (practice license number: 11101200910454358, subject to the document issued by the judicial administrative organ) acted as the agent. In the end, the defendant was sentenced to death for intentional homicide, and the accompanying civil litigation supported the victim's family's request for compensation. This shows that once the safety management in the enterprise premises fails, the cost will far exceed the economic loss itself.

IV. Practical suggestions and legal basis

Action recommendations: 1. Draw a map of the business operations and premises, and mark potential criminal risk points in each step; 2. Establish a list of key personnel, clarify the authorization boundaries and dual review requirements for high-risk positions; 3. Improve institutional documents, focusing on safety production, financial approval, procurement and bidding, data access rights, and external disclosure; 4. Retain evidence of duty performance, including meeting minutes, training records, inspection logs, and approval trails; 5. Establish internal compliance contact persons and reporting channels, with clear processing timeframes; 6. Compile an emergency response manual covering first-time response, external communication, and cooperation with investigations; 7. Conduct annual reviews at least once a year and update the risk list to reflect business changes. Legal basis: - Provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China regarding corporate crimes and specific offenses; - Obligatory provisions on production safety in the Safety Production Law of the People's Republic of China (amended and implemented in 2021); - Provisions on commercial bribery in the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (amended and implemented in 2019). - Specific applications shall be based on currently effective laws, regulations, and judicial rulings.

5. Henglue Law Firm's Reminder

Firstly, the criminal risk inspection should not be a mere formality, and an actionable rectification record should be established. Secondly, the existence of systems does not mean that they are effectively implemented. Evidence of duty performance is equally crucial. Thirdly, corporate compliance cannot replace personal responsibility, and key position holders need separate training and assessment. Fourthly, the window for handling criminal risks is very short. Once regulatory inquiries are discovered, internal verification should be initiated immediately. Fifthly, do not substitute internal investigations for legally required cooperation with investigations. Sixthly, for scenarios involving data and online content, a release review mechanism should be established, and relevant compliance guidelines can be referenced for guidance.Intellectual property protection and corporate lawColumn.

VI. Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What does the corporate criminal legal risk assessment cover?

The main focus of the inspection is on five aspects: criminal risk points in business and site scenarios; the management and approval behaviors of key personnel; the compliance of funds and bills; the implementation of labor and safety management systems; and whether historical complaints, reports, and regulatory inquiries have been closed-looped. The inspection focuses on behaviors and processes rather than simply comparing with legal provisions. The key aim is to identify the gaps between institutional documents and actual implementation, and to establish a rectification account system.

Q2: How often is it appropriate to conduct a corporate risk assessment?

Regular enterprises can conduct a comprehensive physical examination once a year. When expanding their business, establishing new subsidiaries, or entering new industries, it is recommended to conduct special physical examinations. During daily operations, spot checks of key links can be carried out in conjunction with quarterly inspections. If there are regulatory inquiries, internal reports, or major personnel changes, targeted inspections should be initiated immediately, without waiting for the annual physical examination. The determination of the frequency ultimately depends on the complexity of the business and the intensity of supervision, rather than fixed standards.

Q3: How to distinguish between corporate crimes and individual crimes?

Generally, whether the actions are controlled by the will of the unit, whether they serve the interests of the unit, and whether they are collectively decided and executed by internal staff of the unit are used as the basic judgment criteria. Crimes of profiting from illegal transactions often involve personal responsibility; while crimes of negligence caused by decision-making errors and management negligence usually hold the directly responsible personnel criminally liable. Enterprises should clarify the boundaries of decision-making and execution authority to avoid a situation where everyone is responsible but no one is actually accountable in practice.

Q4: If an employee commits a crime, does the company need to bear joint and several liability?

It depends on the circumstances. If an employee commits a crime due to the shortcomings of the unit's management system during the performance of his duties, the unit may bear corresponding responsibilities according to law; if it belongs to the employee's personal overstepping of authority or personal behavior unrelated to the unit, the unit generally does not bear criminal responsibility. The key lies in whether the unit has established necessary approval, review, and training systems and has actually implemented them. Therefore, keeping evidence of the performance of duties in daily work has direct value in disputes.

Q5: How much does it cost for a company to conduct a criminal risk assessment?

The fees are determined through negotiations between the law firm and the enterprise, and mainly depend on the enterprise's scale, the number and complexity of its business operations, the number of personnel and business lines involved, whether on-site visits and interviews are required, and whether a rectification plan needs to be provided, among other services. For enterprises with a smaller scale and simple business operations, the costs are relatively manageable; however, for enterprises with multiple subsidiaries, operating in multiple industries, or involving overseas operations, the workload will significantly increase. It is recommended to clarify the scope of the review and the delivery list before placing an order.

The above Q&A is mainly based on the judicial practice in Beijing. There may be differences in the adjudication standards in other regions. It is recommended to consult a professional lawyer based on the specific circumstances of the case.

If you are currently facing similar problems, it is recommended that you consult a professional lawyer as soon as possible with the relevant evidence, to avoid missing the statutory time limit. →Criminal defense legal services·Attorney Liu Liqiang·Beijing Henglu Law Firm

Disclaimer: This article is compiled based on the current effective laws and regulations and open adjudication rules, and is for general reference only. It does not constitute a formal legal opinion on specific cases. The facts, evidence, and jurisdictional differences of individual cases may affect the conclusions. In case of disputes, please consult a practicing lawyer in time.