The Tang Code listed eight groups whose crimes were to be “deliberated” (八议). The first was the emperor’s relatives. The second was his “old associates,” people who had long attended him and enjoyed his favor. Others included the worthy, the able, those with merit and the noble.
When a person in these groups committed a capital crime, the case first went to the emperor for deliberation. The principle stayed in Chinese law codes for more than 1,600 years. It did not apply to the “ten abominations,” the gravest crimes.