Abstract: | In the 1920s,the doctrine of prosecuting discretion was gradually confirmed in the laws of civil law countries. Shortly thereafter, it was accepted by the legislators of the Republic of China as well.In the criminal procedure law of the Republic of China, the doctrine of prosecuting discretion was mainly reflected as petty misdemeanor non-prosecution, which was first established in the Criminal Procedure Law of 1928 and had been modified several times since then. By these modifications, the considerations and specific procedures about petty misdemeanor non-prosecution were improved, but the scope of application of the system had been limitedthroughout the time. At the practical level, the applicability rate of petty misdemeanor non-prosecution had been very low, which made it difficult to fulfill its due value. |