The 5th National Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Criminal Law, supported by the National Fund for the Development of Criminal Law and organized by the Chinese Society of Criminal Law Studies, was officially launched on September 10, 2020. By October 10, 36 doctoral dissertations from 17 universities across China had been submitted.

In order to ensure the fairness and impartiality of the award, the Judging Committee of the Fifth National Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Criminal Law was set up by the Chinese Society of Criminal Law, and the Judging Meeting of the Fifth National Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Criminal Law was held in Beijing on October 24. According to the Rules of the National Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertations in Criminal Law, 18 doctoral dissertations were selected by secret ballot (including 6 first prizes and 12 second prizes) in strict accordance with the principles of science, fairness and preferring not to overuse.