Attorney in this case: Zhou Xifeng
Recently, the Chongqing Liangjiang New District People's Court made a state compensation decision for two wrongly convicted parties in the "generation petition case accused of picking quarrels and provoking trouble", which was defended by lawyer Zhou Xifeng of Jingshi Law Firm. So far, this case that has attracted widespread public attention has gone through a series of judicial procedures including conviction in the first instance, remand in the second instance, withdrawal of the prosecution by the prosecutor, and withdrawal of the case by the police, and finally achieved the result of not guilty in the entire case.
As the defense lawyer for Xia Moumou, the second defendant in this case, lawyer Zhou Xifeng adheres to the bottom line of the rule of law and uses precise legal argumentation to provide innocence defense opinions for the client. This not only protects the personal freedom and reputation of the client, but also clarifies the legal boundaries of petition agency behavior, demonstrating the professional strength of criminal defense and the foundation of judicial fairness.
The case arose out of the fact that the rights and interests of many owners of a property in Chongqing were damaged due to delayed delivery and quality problems. In order to urge developers to "guarantee the delivery of buildings and quality," owners have organized collective petitions many times. Because some owners are out of town or busy at work, they entrust others to wait outside the petition site on their behalf, listen to the relevant opinions of the owner's rights protection representatives after communicating with the government and developers, and then convey the information to the client. The defendants in this case, Yang Moumou and Xia Moumou, accepted the entrustment of some owners, found someone to help the owners "petition on their behalf" and earned part of the commission. They were taken away by the police in June 2023, and were later sentenced by the Yubei District People's Court of Chongqing in the first instance for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.
A guilty verdict left two young people with a criminal record, and their lives, employment, and reputation were all hampered. After the parties appealed, they entrusted lawyers Zhou Xifengof Beijing Jingshi Law Firm and Luo Can,Wang Shouliang and Feng Zhiyuan of Beijing Zeheng Law Firm to defend the case.
Lawyer Zhou Xifeng pointed out that petitioning on behalf of others is essentially an act in which the owner entrusts others to exercise their rights on their behalf. It falls within the category of civil agency and is not an act prohibited by law. The first-instance judgment identified the legal entrustment behavior as "impersonation", which was an error in fact finding. The defender conducted a detailed review of the evidence in the entire case, thoroughly sorted out the facts of the case, went to Chongqing several times to investigate and collect evidence, visited the masses, communicated with judicial authorities, and clearly pointed out the errors in the first-instance judgment in aspects such as fact determination, evidence admission, and legal application. The court of second instance conducted a strict and careful trial and fully adopted the defense opinions.
After the case lasted for nearly three years, on May 14, 2026, the Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ruled at the second instance to revoke the original verdict and remand the case for retrial. Subsequently, the public prosecutor's office withdrew the prosecution on the grounds that "the conduct did not constitute a crime", and the court ruled to allow it. On May 25, the public prosecution agency made a statutory decision not to prosecute in accordance with Article 177, Paragraph 1, of my country's Criminal Procedure Law. In early June, the public security agency withdrew the case.
So far, the case of picking quarrels and provoking trouble involving Yang Moumou and Xia Moumou has been acquitted. After the party concerned applied for state compensation, the original court of first instance made a compensation decision on July 28 and paid the compensation on August 5.
The Supreme People's Court's research report has clearly pointed out that the crime of picking quarrels and provoking troubles has the risk of being generalized and reduced to a "pocket crime", and cases involving letters and visits should be penalized with caution. The acquittal result in this case not only safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of the parties concerned, but also vindicates the legal name of the civil act of "letting letters on behalf of others." The lawyer's duty is not only to defend, but also to promote judicial practice to return to the original meaning of the law.
As a typical case of correction after someone was convicted of picking quarrels and provoking troubles by petitioning on behalf of someone, this case was deeply reported by mainstream media such as The Paper and Southern Weekend, which aroused attention from all walks of life on the boundaries of convictions for petitioning and provoking troubles and the legality of petitioning agents. Its acquittal result provides an important reference for the judicial judgment of similar cases.
Inspiration from case handling
The core of criminal defense is to maintain the dividing line between crime and non-crime. The fact that the two parties involved in this case were held criminally liable was essentially a double misunderstanding of facts and law by the judicial authorities. From guilty in the first instance to non-prosecution in the entire case, the police withdrawing the case, and then to state compensation, the complete error correction process proves that as long as the facts are on the side of the parties, the law supports the innocence point of view, and the lawyers’ persistent professional argumentation, they will eventually promote the return of justice to fairness and justice.
——Lawyer Zhou Xifeng
Lawyer Profile**
Lawyer Zhou Xifeng
Former legal editor-in-chief of a well-known media, crisis public relations expert for major Internet companies; winner of Peking University's "Finance" scholarship, distinguished expert of the Organizing Committee of the China Internet and Platform Economy High-end Summit; currently a practicing lawyer at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm.
Focus on criminal defense. The case of Gao Moumou, a private entrepreneur from Inner Mongolia who illegally occupied agricultural land, was not prosecuted by the procuratorate. The case of petitioning on behalf of a person in Chongqing and accused of picking quarrels and provoking trouble was remanded for second instance. The procuratorate withdrew the prosecution and decided not to prosecute because it "does not constitute a crime". The court made a state compensation decision. The case of the Hunan Dao County Telecommunications Branch Director who provided legal aid to the victim was beaten to death and was upgraded to the Intermediate People's Court for retrial.