According to Article 54 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, the state party may "consider taking such measures as may be necessary to allow confiscation of such property without a criminal conviction in cases in which the offender cannot be prosecuted by reason of death, flight of absence or in other appropriate cases". The Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress ratified the Convention on Oct 27, 2005, with the Chinese government adding a special procedure to the Criminal Procedure Law to expropriate ill-gotten gains in 2012.

According to the new Criminal Procedure Law, in serious criminal case such as one involving bribery, corruption or terror, if the suspect or defendant dies, his or her illegal gains and other properties related to the case should be expropriated.

The people's court can apply to the people's procuratorate for expropriating the suspect's or defendant's ill-gotten gains, and such cases should be judged by a collegiate panel. After the trial, the verified ill-gotten gains and other properties related to the case will be returned to the victims or expropriated by the State accordingly. And the family of the suspect or defendant or other interested parties can appeal to the people's procuratorate against the decision after the trial.

Since Xu died of cancer during the investigation process, the procuratorial authorities, following the law, have decided to drop the charges against him, which means his prosecution has come to an end. But the Military Procuratorate will seek higher authorities' permission to start the procedure to expropriate the enormous wealth Xu had accumulated through illegal means. Once the properties are verified as ill gotten, they will be expropriated according to the law.

This special expropriation procedure is a warning to corrupt officials that they cannot pass on their ill-gotten wealth to their relatives even if they commit suicide during investigation, prosecution or trial.

The author is a professor of law at Tsinghua University, Beijing.