Normal private lending disputes belong to civil cases, even if the lawsuit fails, it only needs to bear civil obligations and repayment responsibilities. If the debtor fails to perform the judgment of the court, the creditor may apply to the people's court for compulsory execution according to law, but he cannot be directly investigated for criminal responsibility, so the debtor will not go to jail. If the debt cannot be repaid temporarily, it may be repaid by the debtor in installments with the consent of the creditor or the ruling of the people's court. Those who have the ability to repay and refuse to repay shall be enforced by the people's court.
However, according to Article 3 13 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), those who refuse to execute the judgment or ruling of the people's court, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or fine; If the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined. In other words, it is a crime to have the ability to repay and refuse to perform the court decision, and you are going to jail. This situation is not common at present.
Legal basis:
Article 242 of the Civil Procedure Law
If the person subjected to execution fails to perform the obligations specified in the legal documents according to the notice of execution, the people's court has the right to inquire about the deposits, bonds, stocks, fund shares and other property of the person subjected to execution from the relevant units. The people's court has the right to seal up, freeze, transfer or change the property of the person subjected to execution according to different circumstances. The property inquired, sealed up, frozen, transferred or changed in price by the people's court shall not exceed the scope of obligations that the person subjected to execution shall perform. When the people's court decides to seal up, freeze, transfer or change the price of property, it shall make a ruling and issue a notice of assistance in execution, which the relevant units must handle.
People's Republic of China (PRC) Civil Procedure Law
Article 214 Where a creditor requests the debtor to pay money or negotiable securities and meets the following conditions, it may apply to the grassroots people's court with jurisdiction for a payment order:
(1) There is no other debt dispute between the creditor and the debtor;
(2) Payment orders can be served on the debtor.
The application shall specify the amount of money or securities required and the facts and evidence on which it is based.
Article 215 After an application is filed by a creditor, the people's court shall notify the creditor whether to accept it or not within five days.
Article 216 After the people's court accepts the application, if the facts and evidence provided by the creditor are clear and legal, it shall issue a payment order to the debtor within 15 days from the date of acceptance. If the application is not established, the ruling shall be rejected.
The debtor shall pay off the debt within fifteen days from the date of receiving the payment order, or file a written objection with the people's court.
If the debtor fails to raise any objection or perform the payment order within the period specified in the preceding paragraph, the creditor may apply to the people's court for compulsory execution.
To sum up, it seems that the money owed is not just a civil case, so even if you don't pay it back, you won't go to jail. However, it is worth noting that if you don't sue because you owe money, if the parties refuse to perform when the court forces repayment later, it is judicial custody.