Abstract: With the state’s increasing emphasis on property rights protection, the reform of the forfeiture and recovery system for case-involved property has become imperative. As a critical juncture for resolving conflicts and institutional refinement, the protection of non-party individuals’ rights in criminal proceedings has garnered significant legislative attention. However, even after multiple amendments, current laws still lack comprehensive procedural provisions for such parties. In judicial practice, non-parties in criminal cases often participate in litigation in the capacity of “witnesses”, “providers of written opinions” or entities analogous to “third parties without independent claims” in civil proceedings. This stems from the traditional singular structure of criminal proceedings, the balancing of litigation values, and the analogical application of litigation representation doctrines. Consequently, it leads to restricted legitimate rights for non-parties, judicial discretion abuse, and diminished judicial credibility. To address these issues, it is imperative to affirm the litigant status of non-parties in criminal cases based on the evolution of criminal procedure structures, the imperative of procedural justice, and utilitarian considerations for balancing stakeholder interests. Specifically, their participation should be clarified as “third parties with independent claims”, “joint litigants” and “third parties without independent claims”. Furthermore, procedural safeguards must be established through the construction of relatively independent in rem criminal proceedings, the expansion of procedural sanctions, and the incorporation of civil litigation mechanisms such as the joinder of parties and third-party revocation systems.