关于调整中国刑法结构的思考

There are two problems with regard to the structure of Chinese criminal law. Firstly, the crimes that are defined in the Chinese criminal code are approximately equal to the felonies that are defined in the western criminal codes, while re-education through labor and penalty for administration of public security similar to the misdemeanors and violations in western countries respectively are not included in the Chinese criminal code, and meanwhile the security measures have not been systematized. Secondly, crimes and penalties, except in criminal law, can not be prescribed in administrative laws and economic laws, and such single track system of conviction and sentencing fails to satisfy the current social situation in which the number of mala prohibia has increased so much. The way to reform Chinese criminal law structure: Firstly, it is to establish a double track system, where mala prohibia should be prescribed in the related administrative laws or economic laws; secondly, a comprehensive criminal code should be reformulated in which felonies, misdemeanors, violations and security measures are all included. Liu Renwen, Ph.D, is a senior research fellow at the Law Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His major works include: A Preliminary Study of Criminal Policy (2004), Economic Analysis in the Integration of Criminal Law (2007), Crimes of Environment and National Resources (2004); and research articles, such as: Reform of the re-education through labor (Criminal Law Review, 2001), Enhance the quality of death penalty cases through the procedure (New Reports in Criminal Law, 2006).     

Depression, responsibility, and criminal defenses

The concepts of voluntary action, agency, free will, and responsibility, while central to moral and legal institutions, are generally poorly understood. Philosophers of law such as H.L.A. Hart, Joel Feinberg, and Robert F. Schopp have contributed significantly to understanding of these concepts through their work on the foundations of criminal defenses, including excuses based on mental illness. In this paper, I summarize and present their valuable insights, in the context of an argument (influenced by personal experience) that clinical depression, even when non-psychotic, may in some cases constitute a legitimate excuse for criminal or otherwise immoral failures to act.     

罪刑法定视域中的刑法适用解释

The judicial interpretation of criminal law should be an application interpretation to individual cases that is guided by judges and participated by the prosecutor and the accused, for which the judicial judgment should be combined with the application of criminal law of specific cases, and the criminal precedents should be as a carrier. The Supreme People’s Court should change from the previous practices of issuing normative and abstract interpretation to the dual approaches of the interpretation of criminal law application through direct creation and indirect acknowledgement. Liang Genlin, Professor and Vice Dean of Law School of Peking University and as a visiting professor of University of Tuebingen (2001–2002). His main research focuses on criminal law and criminal policy, and his important publications include “On the Structure of Punishment”, “Liang Genlin’s Review on Criminal Policy, Volume I, Criminal Policy: Standpoint and Category”, “Liang Genlin’s Review on Criminal Policy, Volume II, the Arm of the Law: Expand and Limit”, “Liang Genlin’s Review on Criminal Policy, Volume III, Criminal Sanction: Manner and Choice”. Besides, he has also published over 40 discourses on criminal law and criminal policy since 1996.     

Rationalizing criminal behaviour: the influence of criminal sentiments on sociomoral development in violent offenders and nonoffenders

Cognitive developmental theory suggests that mature-level sociomoral reasoning (Stages 3 and 4) can provide a protective factor, or buffer, against antisocial and violent criminal behavior. This study explored whether the influence of internalised criminal sentiments could undermine this buffer. The sample was high-risk men and women offenders (n = 99) convicted of serious violent index offences, and men and women nonoffender university students (n = 101). Moral reasoning was measured using the Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form, whereas criminal sentiments were assessed using the Criminal Sentiments Scale. Based on moral reasoning development level the sample was classified into groups: mature- or immature-level moral reasoners. The results suggested that mature-level sociomoral development might not protect a person from identifying with criminal others, and that law violation could be rationalized regardless of sociomoral level. Gender differences were neither expected nor found. The applied implications of the findings are considered.     

修订药品管理法，强化药品执法行刑联动机制——中美药品行刑联动机制比较研究

本文旨在理顺药品行政执法与刑事司法的关系,强化药品执法力度,为修改《药品管理法》奠定理论基础。文章运用规范研究方法、比较法学和案例分析法对中美药品行刑联动机制作深入的比较分析。通过研究发现我国药品执法行刑联动机制存在的问题,并借鉴美国药品行刑联动机制建设经验,提出修改《药品管理法》的建议。     

An evaluation of the impact of criminal law revision

For many decades there has been a perceived need for criminal law revision in the United States. The American Law Institute sponsored the creation of a Model Penal Code which became available in 1962 and spurred activity which has resulted in some 40 states enacting new criminal codes. Among the many objectives of the new codes is the increased efficiency and effectiveness of criminal justice procedures. The present evaluation effort searched for changes in system rates which, it was assumed, would be effected by the New Jersey Criminal Code enacted in 1979. For example, the evaluation searched for changes in the handling of certain tyes of offenses as well as for changes in various court processes. Evaluation results revealed few changes in the many areas investigated. Consideration of the assumptions underlying criminal law revision and the relative lack of predicted impact raises issues that deserve but have not received much attention, certainly very little research and evaluation. This report ends with a discussion of reasonable expectations for criminal law revision and suggestions for related research.     

法律的公众认同、功能期许与道德承载对刑法修正案(八)的复眼式解读

刑法修正案(八)不但针对我国转型时期的社会情势和国情民意予以了很大程度的回应，而且也体现了官方和主流民意对刑法的功能期待，承载了当下社会基本的集体道德情感，但被一些刑法改革者认为立法理性不够或过多地迁就了庸俗的民粹主义，以致没有较好地摆脱传统工具主义和重刑主义的思维与窠臼。诚然，转型时期高度复杂的社会情势和大众心理基质难免使得实定刑法所蕴含的价值理念互有差别、充满悖反乃至相互抵牾。欲对这种吊诡的多重面向予以同情之理解与有效的解读，除了法学与逻辑的思维论证，更重要的可能还必须导入法律社会学、社会心理学和法律经济学等多维度的复眼化视角。     

论刑法修正的协调性

刑法修正的协调性是保障刑法公正性的基础性条件。《刑法修正案(十一)》新增罪(含修正罪)充分注意到了《刑法》与相关法律之间的协调(衔接)。但是,刑法修正还要考虑新增罪(修正罪)与既有罪之间、新增罪(修正罪)之间以及修正的刑法条文与相关刑法解释(含解释性文件)之间的协调。刑法修正需要在罪状的设置、法定刑的设置以及量刑情节的设置方面保持协调。面对协调性的瑕疵,可以通过补正解释的方法确保司法适用的公正,在解释论无法解决的情况下,则只能通过进一步修正刑法加以完善。     

对老年人刑事责任能力的探讨

随着年龄的增大，老年人的刑事责任能力逐渐减弱，而现行刑法对老年人刑事责任未作特别性规定，司法实践中对老年人犯罪量刑存在较大的偏差。刑法立法上应将“年老”作为法定从宽量刑情节，明确规定年满70周岁以上的人犯罪的，可以从轻、减轻、免于处罚。这一规定既具有生物学科学依据、深厚的传统文化和民意基础；也体现了刑罚个别化、人性化、经济性原则；完善了刑法立法结构，周全了对弱势主体的保护。     

刑事诉讼法解释论

刑事诉讼法解释理论是刑事诉讼法学研究的重要方法论,科学的刑事诉讼法解释论,是保障刑事诉讼法在实践中得到正确适用的前提。从我国目前的司法实践来看,正是由于刑事诉讼法解释论的缺位,在刑事诉讼法的操作和适用上,普遍存在着误解甚至故意曲解刑事诉讼法立法原意的情况,极大地折损了刑事诉讼法的实施效果与功能。所以,从理论上加强刑事诉讼法解释论的研究就成为一项重要的学术责任和紧迫的学术任务。     

The Legal Culture and Legal System in Post-Franco Spain

In analyzing the process of creating criminal law, Howard Becker pointed out elements such as moral entrepreneurs, availability to the mass media, and political maneuvering. In this article the author analyses how these elements are seen in the emergence of Anti-Prostitution Law in Japan. According to historical documents Christian groups worked as moral crusaders in the purification movement before World War II. But after the war secular groups, especially female groups, became the main entrepreneurs for the enactment of Anti-Prostitution Law.

In those countries where believers in a monotheistic religion like Christianity are the majority of the population, moral entrepreneurs may play an important role in creating criminal law. On the other hand, Japan does not have many such believers. Most Japanese, influenced by Shinto, are tolerant of different religions. Therefore, in the emergence of criminal law, moral crusaders who are interested in forcing their own morals on others are rarely seen. The author cannot emphasize the role of moral entrepreneurs as Howard Becker did. In Japan most drafts of law are made by bureaucrats in the national government in accord with opinions of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Then laws are submitted to the Diet by the Cabinet. As a result, research on the roles of bureaucrats, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and the Cabinet is important in the sociology of criminal law in Japan.     

论环境侵权的刑法规制

环境侵权问题的日益严重,迫使许多国家强化对严重危害生态环境的行为推行"犯罪化"和"刑罚化",中国也不例外。我国刑法虽然专章规定了破坏环境资源保护罪,但受传统刑事立法思想的束缚,环境刑法应有的功能却受到严重制约。因此,环境刑法的立法完善应以环境侵权为逻辑起点,以民法的社会化为内在根基,兼顾人本主义和生态主义的立法理念,适度增设新的刑种和罪名,但不应盲目适用危险犯和严格责任。     

Credit card fraud under Chinese criminal law

Credit card fraud is a new type of fraud amended into the Criminal Law of China in 1997. The “credit card” under credit card fraud is interpreted as a very board concept, which includes debit card and virtually all electronic payment cards used in ordinary payment, credit loan, transfer and settlement of account, cash deposit and withdrawal. Therefore, it is necessary for the legislature to revise “credit card” under this special fraud into “electronic payment card,” and “credit card fraud” into “electronic payment card fraud,” which will be understood easily and precisely. “Use” and “fraudulent use” of credit card under this fraud is defined as ordinary use of credit card, including withdrawal cash with authentic or forged credit card from ATMs. It is unreasonable to define “malicious overdraft” as a form of credit card fraud under the Chinese Criminal Law. In the future amendment, this kind of criminal conduct shall be separated as independent named as “malicious overdraft” or “abuse of credit card” under the Criminal Law with less stiff statutory punishment than that of credit card fraud. Besides, under the Chinese Criminal Law, stealing credit card and using it is held as “theft,” which is neither reasonable nor logical. Therefore, it should be revised in the future criminal law.     

我国刑事赔偿制度之改革

In reference to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (hereinafter referred to “the Covenants”), the state compensation system of China in criminal justice shall be reformed as such: Compensation for a miscarriage of justice should not be determined by the results of first instance or second instance, but no guilty through retrial in the final trial upon finding of new evidences. If policemen, prosecutors and judiciaries take lawful measures, causing loss to the suspected due to arrest, detention or other enforcement in the criminal proceedings, the suspected should not get the state compensation for that even if he is decided no guilty in the final trial. If the suspected is cooped up illegally, he should get the state compensation even if being decided guilty finally. The measures of search and seizure should be included in coercive measures, hence differentiating the lawful search and seizure and the unlawful infringement of the property rights. Yang Yuguan, Professor of the Procedure Law Institute in China University of Political Science and Law, whose research mainly covers procedure law and human rights law. He wrote many books and essays, for instance, “Computer and Crime” (1986), “On Plea Bargaining” (1986), “Basic Education in Prisons in China” (1995), “The United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Policy” (1996), “On the Ratification and Implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights” (2000), “On Hearsay” (2001), “On Exclusionary Rule” (2002), “Human Rights Law: Study On International Covenant on Civil and Political Right” (2003), “The International Criminal Court: Idea, reality and Prospective” (2007), “Death Penalty Control with Procedural Law” (2006), “On Due Process of Law and Human Rights Protection” (2005). He was once a researcher fellow of Ministry of Justice of China, a member of the Crime Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office at Vienna, and an editor-in-chief in some books, such as “The United Nations Criminal Justice Norms and Standards”, “The United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies and their Comments”, “A Study On UN Convention of Anti-corruption”.     

European criminal law and European identity

This contribution aims to explain how European Criminal Law can be understood as constitutive of European identity. Instead of starting from European identity as a given, it provides a philosophical analysis of the construction of self-identity in relation to criminal law and legal tradition. The argument will be that the self-identity of those that share jurisdiction depends on and nourishes the legal tradition they adhere to and develop, while criminal jurisdiction is of crucial importance in this process of mutual constitution. This analysis will be complemented with a discussion of the integration of the first and the third pillar as aimed for by the Constitutional Treaty (TE), which would bring criminal law under majority rule and European democratic control. Attention will be paid to two ground breaking judgements of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that seem to boil down to the fact that the Court actually manages to achieve some of the objectives of the CT even if this is not in force. This gives rise to a discussion of how the CT (and related judgements of the ECJ) may transform European criminal law in the Union to EU criminal law of the Union, thus producing an identity of the Union next to the identities prevalent in the Union. The contribution concludes with some normative questions about the kind of European identity we should aim to establish, given the fact that such identity will arise with further integration of criminal law into the first pillar.

Motives,Reasons, and Responsibility in Hate/Bias Crime Legislation

Hate/bias crimes, according to what we may call the literal interpretation, are crimes distinguished by their connection to a certain kind of motive. Hate crime laws and sentencing provisions state that such motives may result in penalty enhancements. According to the standard objection to hate crime laws, this position is problematic: first, criminal law should not be used to pass moral judgments on motives. Its concern should be with actions as modified by intentions, not with the values and reasons of perpetrators. Second, our motives are not directly responsive to the will, so we should not be held responsible for them. In reply to the second part of the objection, this article defends a version of the literal interpretation of hate crime that conceives of it as acting on a bad reason. Hate crime laws add punishment not for motives/thoughts, but for the decision to treat a patently bad reason (such as racism) as a reason to commit a criminal act. If the act itself is reason-responsive, we can be held responsible for what reasons we act on. Given that the truth or falsity of hate/bias on these grounds is not a disputed matter, we can justify using the criminal law to recognize the moral status of such motives.     

尊重与保障：刑法如何介入行政法领域——从打击“地沟油”犯罪切入

《刑法》作为后盾法，应当尊重行政法律、法规和行政规范性文件，特别是国务院的规范性文件，否则将会在犯罪行为形式上指鹿为马，不适当地扩张法网。刑法与行政法都由全国人民代表大会或其常务委员会制定，因此“生而平等”，地位没有或者说不应有高下之分。制裁滥用刑法的行为，恰恰能够为充分发挥行政法的作用创造良好的条件。     

试论刑事政策与国际刑法的关系

刑事政策是对犯罪有组织的反应,国际刑法以研讨国际犯罪为己任,对国际犯罪的研究需要以刑事政策为视角。本文通过分析刑事政策的含义及其国际化特征与国际刑法的发展方向,在刑事政策的视野下,揭示国际刑法的发展趋势——刑事政策的国际刑法化与国际刑法的刑事政策化,进而把握刑事政策与国际刑法两者的契合性。     

论我国刑事审判监督程序之改革

The amendment of China’s Criminal Procedure Law has attracted the eyes of both the academic and judicial practice circles. In this research, the authors focus on a particular aspect of the criminal procedure law called the criminal procedure for trial supervision (also called as criminal retrial procedure) to conduct a comprehensive and systematic discussion from three aspects—the necessity of its existence and reform, the concept of its reconstruction and the detailed concepts of reform. The authors consider that the existence of the criminal retrial procedure is in line with the law of litigation, and necessary for the realization of judicial justice; there are obvious defects in China’s criminal retrial procedure in view of the realization of judicial justice and the improvement of efficiency, which calls for reform based on updated concepts. This article points out that the modern criminal retrial procedure must combine the concepts of the pursuit of justice, correction of erroneous judgments and res judicata and the rule of prohibition against double jeopardy. The authors also give several suggestions on the reform of China’s criminal retrial procedure.     

The Council of Europe Laundering Convention: A recent example of a developing international criminal law

Conclusion With the Laundering Convention, the Council of Europe has contributed once again to the development of the international criminal law and to the promotion of international criminal law cooperation. The Council has shown that it is possible to elaborate a complex, highly technical convention within a period of less than a year so long as the political will exists. It is now a matter for the individual member states and other states to sign, if they have not done so, or to ratify, if they have already signed the convention. The future of the Laundering Convention lies in the hands of those states that have responsibility for its application. An efficient tool for international criminal law cooperation has been created-it must now be used.This is a revised version of a paper presented at an international workshop on Principles and Procedures for a New Transnational Criminal Law, organized jointly by the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law and the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg, Germany, May 21–25, 1991. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Council of Europe.Juris kandidat, Uppsala University 1979. The author was Secretary to the Council of Europe expert committee that elaborated the Laundering Convention.