Over the past fifteen years, private detectives have emerged one after another in our country and have shown a rapid development trend. The concept of private detectives has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. The existence of the "detective agency" phenomenon has become a social issue in contemporary China, although there is still no clear legislation in our country to indicate the legal or illegal status of the detective industry.

But anyone who pays attention to the present and the future has seen that the practice of the detective industry in our country is still prevalent.

Industry insiders generally have a high voice, demanding that the state promptly introduce corresponding laws and regulations to make the detective industry "legitimate". Many industry alliance meetings spontaneously organized by the public have attempted to use this approach to call for and draw the attention and emphasis of the state's top leadership. The mainstream view holds that although there are many drawbacks in its development process, it remains an indispensable practical need for Chinese society.

China should no longer exclude private detectives. Instead, it should clarify the legal status of private detectives, formulate relevant legal norms, and establish corresponding management mechanisms to enable the private detective industry in China to quickly embark on a legal, regular and rational path.

Here, we provide a detailed explanation and correction of the legal issues arising from the development and growth of private detectives in our country, and look forward to the legislation of the entire detective agency.

The legal issues involved in the legislation of the private detective industry in China can be summarized as follows: First, the issue of the acceptance of civil evidence obtained in litigation; Second, as their actions fall under the category of "private remedies", which are prone to infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of others, how should they be regulated? Third, how to conduct industry management and personnel training; Fourth, the issue of whether private detectives can get involved in the criminal investigation of criminal cases.

The author believes that the biggest judicial obstacle is whether private detectives can get involved in the investigation of criminal cases. The involvement of private detectives in the criminal field will lead to a rearrangement of the investigation system, which is clearly an illegal act under the current criminal procedure legal system. Therefore, at this stage, the investigation power of private detectives in the criminal field can be excluded, and only the civil investigation power can be granted to private detectives. However, in light of the development patterns of foreign judicial systems over the past few decades, in order to overcome the inherent deficiencies of the investigation and control authorities in collecting defense evidence under the single-track investigation system, many civil law countries have paid great attention to granting the defense certain rights to investigate and collect evidence when revising their criminal procedure laws. As a result, there has emerged a trend of moving from the single-track investigation system to the dual-track investigation system. Judicial practice has also proved that although the laws of all countries require state organs exercising the power of investigation and prosecution to act objectively when collecting evidence and to gather evidence both favorable and unfavorable to the criminal suspect, the specific litigation stance of the investigation and prosecution organs determines that the police and procuratorial organs always intentionally or unintentionally focus on the collection of prosecution evidence during investigation. However, insufficient consideration is often given to the evidence that is favorable to the defense. This not only may lead to an innocent person being convicted or a minor crime being severely punished, infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of criminal suspects and defendants, but also may allow the guilty to escape the law and harm the interests of society. Referring to the private detective industry in France and Germany, which are civil law systems, the evidence collected by private detectives can usually enter the litigation track after being confirmed by the national investigation and control authorities. This provides theoretical and practical references for the issue of establishing the legal status of private detectives' involvement in criminal case investigations in our country. At the very least, it offers us a template for how to develop the private detective industry under the single-track investigation system. In other words, allowing the development of private detectives under the single-track investigation system is not a "pioneer" of the world, but rather has precedents to follow and learn from. It is believed that with the advancement of the rule of law construction in our country, it is expected that private detectives will be granted the power to conduct criminal investigations.

As for the issue of how to conduct industry management and personnel training. The author believes that the legislation and management systems of the private detective industry in foreign countries can be drawn upon. In the formulation of ministerial-level administrative regulations or laws in China, the management of the private detective company industry should be strengthened, clearly defining the scope of practice, pre-approval conditions, registration and filing systems, the setting of professional discipline and professional ethics norms, and legal responsibilities of private detective companies in China.

The training for private detectives should mainly include the following contents: Employee background checks, civil litigation procedures, principles of civil damages, criminal litigation procedures, collection and preservation of evidence, seizure and control of property, fingerprint technology, tracking methods, personal identification methods, industrial investigations, insurance investigations, professional investigations, detective knowledge, crime scene mapping, classification of criminal methods, mobile and location photography, collection of testimony, secret investigations, pre-employment Review, investigation methods, writing of investigation reports, investigation of store theft, intelligence collection, secret waiting and testifying in court, etc.

Meanwhile, the legislation and management system establishment for the private detective industry in China can draw on the management system of the legal profession in China. As the management system of the legal profession in China has become relatively complete, and the industry characteristics of the legal profession have considerable similarities with those of the private detective industry. Therefore, the private detective industry in China can draw on the management of the legal profession in China and adopt a combination of administrative management and self-discipline of associations. The Ministry of Public Security, as the administrative approval institution for the private detective industry in China, is responsible for the approval and annual inspection review of the licenses of detective companies (or investigation companies), as well as the approval and annual inspection review of private detective practice certificates, and exercises the power of administrative penalties. Establish a national Chinese Detective Association, with the private detective association responsible for industry self-discipline management.

As for the issue of how to regulate the behavior of private detectives, which is a form of "private remedies" and is prone to infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of others. The author believes that based on whether legal responsibility should be borne, private remedies can be divided into two categories, namely private remedies involving criminal responsibility and private remedies without legal responsibility. Private remedies without legal liability are usually prescribed by law, but they may also be situations not explicitly stipulated by law. However, statutory private remedies may also bear legal liability. For instance, Article 21 of the Criminal Law stipulates that emergency avoidance does not bear criminal responsibility, but this does not mean there is no civil liability. Article 129 of the General Principles of the Civil Law states that if damage is caused by emergency avoidance, the person who caused the danger shall bear civil liability. If the danger is caused by natural reasons, the person who takes emergency refuge shall not bear civil liability or shall bear appropriate civil liability. Private remedies involving criminal liability are clearly prohibited by law. In conclusion, if a private detective's actions infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of others and they should be held criminally or civilly responsible according to Chinese law, a ruling can be made in accordance with the law.

As for the issue of the acceptance of civil evidence obtained by private detectives in litigation For civil evidence, in accordance with the "Evidence Rules" of our country and the "He who asserts must prove" civil evidence proof rule in the "Civil Procedure Law", when the parties' private efforts to provide evidence are insufficient, they can of course exercise the right of entrustment with the help of external forces and entrust private detectives to investigate and collect evidence. As long as it's private investigation