On December 4 2020, the "Criminal Policy and Judicial Seminar on Drug Crimes in the New Era" was held at Wuhan University Law School. More than 60 experts and scholars from the Supreme People's Court, the Office of the National Narcotics Control Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, Hubei Provincial Procuratorate, the People's Court of Hongshan District, the People's Court of Qiaokou District, the Wuhan University Law School and the Law School of South-Central University for Nationalities participated in the symposium.

Prof. He Ronggong, Vice Dean of Wuhan University Law School and Director of Wuhan University Judicial Research Centre on Drug Crimes, presided over the opening ceremony, while Vice-President Ma Yan of the Fifth Criminal Trial Division of the Supreme People's Court, Director Li Xiao of the National Anti-Drug Office and the Anti-Drug Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, and Prof. Mo Hongxian, Director of Wuhan University Criminal Law Research Centre, delivered speeches in succession.

The conference was organized with four presentation modules, in which prosecutors made excellent presentations on criminal policies on drug offences and difficult issues of judicial determination.

Assoc. Prof. Ye Xiaoqin and Assoc. Prof. Chen Jinlin of Wuhan University Law School and Director Yin Heng of the Second Procuratorial Department of Wuhan People's Procuratorate moderated the morning agenda. Prosecutors expressed their views on the characterisation of "proxy purchase" and "drug-trafficking for drug-taking", the judicial determination of drug-transport in logistics and drug-transport in the same city and the interpretation of relevant legal documents.

In the summary and discussion session, Vice President Fang Wenjun of the Fifth Criminal Trial Chamber of the Supreme People's Court expressed his views on the accurate grasp of legal provisions and the clarification of disputes in judicial practice. Prosecutor Wang Zhiyun of the Second Procuratorial Department of the Hubei Provincial People's Procuratorate and President Xiao Yuhua, a member of the Trial Committee of the Wuhan Hongshan District People's Court, also shared their views on the sentencing standards in drug trafficking offences and the identification of the act of transportation in drug transportation offences.

Yu Fengyong, Director of the Second Procuratorial Department of the People's Procuratorate of Jingzhou, Li Yingfeng, Lecturer at Wuhan University Law School and Assoc. Prof. Xiong Qi of Wuhan University Law School presided over the afternoon agenda. Prosecutors enumerated the difficult issues in the identification of drug offences and sorted out the common violations in the investigation and collection of evidence in drug offence cases from a procedural perspective.

In the subsequent free discussion session, President Gong Wenli of the Criminal Trial Court of Wuhan Qiaokou District People's Court elaborated on the determination of "proxy purchase" and other acts in drug crimes in the trial activities, and explained the issue of criminal intent inducement in investigative measures. Li Shaobo, Director of the Practice Teaching Centre of the Law School of South-Central University for Nationalities and Adjunct Professor of the Wuhan University Law School Practice Course, gave an in-depth analysis of the nature of drug crime cases and strategies for dealing with them. Prosecutor Wang Zhiyun and Prof. He Rongkong also gave additional speeches on related issues.

Zhao Hui, Director of the First Procuratorial Department of the Hubei Provincial People's Procuratorate, moderated the concluding session. Director Liu Keqiang of the Second Procuratorial Department of the Hubei Provincial People's Procuratorate said that the seminar was an opportunity to help clarify controversial issues in drug crime and further improve the ability of frontline staff.

Prof. He Ronggong gave an overall explanation of the seminar and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the participating experts. The seminar was successfully concluded.

Edited by Yuan Yuhang & Wu Liuqing