（一）General Voluntary Surrender
Article 67, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law: Voluntary surrender refers to the act of a criminal who, after committing a crime, voluntarily turns themselves in and truthfully confesses their crime.
- Voluntary Surrender
Article 1, Item 1 of the “Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in Handling Voluntary Surrender and Meritorious Service”: Voluntary surrender refers to the act of a criminal suspect who, before the judicial authorities have discovered the crime or the suspect, or even if discovered, has not yet been interrogated or subjected to compulsory measures, voluntarily and directly surrenders to the public security organs, people’s procuratorates, or people’s courts.
There are several special circumstances for voluntary surrender:
(1) Surrender by Relatives: If relatives persuade, accompany, or even bind and surrender the suspect, it should still be considered as voluntary surrender.
(2) Surrender by Proxy or via Communication: Under specific circumstances (such as illness, injury, or to mitigate the consequences of the crime), if the suspect entrusts someone else to surrender on their behalf or first surrenders via communication, it is also recognized as voluntary surrender.
(3) Surrender by Fugitives: If a criminal flees after committing a crime and voluntarily surrenders during the process of being wanted or arrested, it is recognized as voluntary surrender.
(4) Arrest While En Route: If it is verified that the suspect was indeed preparing to surrender or was arrested while on the way to surrender, it is also recognized as voluntary surrender.
- Truthful Confession of the Crime
Note: Only the main facts of the crime need to be disclosed. Other details such as the tools used, the nature of the crime, and the reasons for the crime are not strictly required.
（二）Special Voluntary Surrender
Article 67, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Law: If a criminal suspect, defendant, or a serving prisoner who has been subjected to compulsory measures truthfully confesses other crimes that the judicial authorities have not yet discovered, it is considered as voluntary surrender.
- If a criminal truthfully confesses crimes that the investigating authorities have not yet discovered, it is only recognized as voluntary surrender if these crimes are of a different nature from those already known to the authorities. Exception: “If the facts of the crime targeted by the clues held by the investigating authorities are not established, and the criminal confesses to crimes of the same nature outside this scope,” as per the “Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Determination of Voluntary Surrender, Meritorious Service, and Other Sentencing Circumstances in Handling Duty Crime Cases.”
Example: For instance, if the investigating authorities arrest suspect A for robbery, and A had committed several robberies prior to this. If A truthfully confesses to the previous robberies after being arrested, this cannot be recognized as voluntary surrender for the crime of robbery. However, if A confesses to a theft he committed, then for the crime of theft, he should be recognized as having voluntarily surrendered.
（三）Specific Circumstances in Voluntary Surrender
Note the difference between voluntary surrender and confession. If a suspect truthfully confesses after being slightly questioned or educated due to suspicious behavior, it is recognized as voluntary surrender. However, “if a criminal truthfully confesses to facts targeted by clues held by the investigating authorities during the investigation, interrogation, or the application of investigative measures or compulsory measures, it cannot be recognized as voluntary surrender.”
Multiple Crimes: Only the confessed parts are recognized as voluntary surrender.
Joint Crimes: An accomplice should confess the known co-defendants, and the principal offender should also confess the known joint criminal facts of other co-defendants.
Retraction of Confession: “If a criminal suspect voluntarily surrenders and truthfully confesses their crime but later retracts the confession, it cannot be recognized as voluntary surrender; however, if they truthfully confess again before the first-instance judgment, it should be recognized as voluntary surrender.”
Escape After Voluntary Surrender: If a suspect escapes after voluntarily surrendering, it cannot be recognized as voluntary surrender.
（四）Impact of Voluntary Surrender on Sentencing
Article 3 of the “Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in Handling Voluntary Surrender and Meritorious Service”: According to Article 67, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law, for criminals who voluntarily surrender, the punishment may be mitigated or reduced; for those whose crimes are relatively minor, the punishment may be exempted. The specific determination of whether to mitigate, reduce, or exempt punishment should be based on the severity of the crime and the specific circumstances of the voluntary surrender.