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。

A probe into the criminal responsibility of the old people

The ability to take criminal responsibility of the old people tends to wear off with age, but without a special provision related in the current Criminal Law, there exist in our law practice great differences in the measurement of penalty to the crimes committed by the old people. It is suggested in this article that the case of ＂old age＂ be taken into consideration so as to be lenient when we impose penalty. It should be made clear that if the crime is committed by people over 70, they could be given a light sentence, be extenuated or even be exempt from punishment. This provision is based on the biological theories, the profound traditional cultures and the pub- lic wills. It not only represents the principles of individuation, humanization and economization in penalty, but also completes the legislation of criminal laws and provides a thorough protection of the disadvantaged subjects.