Code of Criminal Procedure Article 256
This English translation was last updated on 2020-01-15, but the Chinese text was amended on 2026-05-13. Later amendments may not be reflected in the translation — please refer to the Chinese text.
Within ten days after the receipt of a written ruling not to prosecute or a written ruling of deferred prosecution, a complainant may make a petition in writing for reconsideration of the ruling, setting forth the reasons for dissatisfaction, to the public prosecutor who handled the case. The public prosecutor shall transfer the petition to the chief prosecutor of the immediately superior Public Prosecutors Office, or to the Prosecutor General. In the situation where a ruling under Articles 253 and 253-1 was made with the consent of the complainant, the complainant may not make a petition for reconsideration.Where a reconsideration of a ruling not to prosecute or of a ruling of deferred prosecution may be petitioned for, the true copy of the written ruling served upon the complainant shall state the period within which a petition for reconsideration may be made, and shall state the chief prosecutor of the immediately superior Public Prosecutors Office or the Prosecutor General, to whom the petition is to be submitted.When a public prosecutor makes a ruling not to prosecute a case, due to lack of sufficient suspicion of offenses, where the offense is punishable with the death penalty, life imprisonment, or an imprisonment for not less than three years, or when a public prosecutor makes a ruling of deferred prosecution on a case specified in Article 253-1, if there is no person qualified for making a petition for reconsideration, the public prosecutor shall sua sponte transfer the ruling to the chief public prosecutor of the immediately superior Public Prosecutors Office, or the Prosecutor General, for reconsideration, and notify the informer.