Chinese idiom · 成语
法不责众
Meaning
The belief that a large crowd of offenders will be difficult to punish; often used as an excuse.
Character by character
Origin and story
Proverb and literary usageA documented use appears in chapter 38 of the Qing novel Xiao Wu Yi. After one group has left and failed to return, others discuss the situation and decide to leave too, reasoning that a whole crowd will escape punishment. The saying voices their calculation that widespread participation makes enforcement difficult.
This is a proverb about an expectation or excuse, not a universal legal rule and not a guarantee of immunity. The cited passage establishes Qing literary usage, but it does not establish a first inventor. Today the expression is often mentioned critically when people follow others into wrongdoing and assume that sheer numbers will protect them.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
别抱着法不责众的侥幸心理，看到别人违规就跟着做。
Don't follow others in breaking rules on the lucky assumption that a whole crowd cannot be punished.
Often criticizes reliance on numbers to avoid responsibility; not a statement of current law.