漏網之魚

From Shiji:

漢興，破觚而爲圜，斲雕而爲樸，網漏於呑舟之魚，而吏治烝烝，不至於姦，黎民艾安。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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汉兴，破觚而为圜，斫雕而为朴，网漏于吞舟之鱼，而吏治烝烝，不至于奸，黎民艾安。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

Hàn xīng, pò gū ér wéi yuán, zhuó diāo ér wéi pǔ, wǎng lòu yú tūnzhōu zhī yú, ér lìzhì zhēngzhēng, bùzhìyú jiān, límín yì'ān. [Pinyin]

When the Han arose, it lopped off the harsh corners of the Qin code and returned to an easy roundness, whittled away the embellishments and achieved simplicity; the meshes of the law were spread so far apart that a whale could have passed through, yet the law oficials were honest and simple-hearted and did not indulge in evil, and the common people were orderly and content.

漏網之魚

1. (figurative) people that are able to escape legal sanctions by luck