Criminal Law Commentary. Volume 2004

Author: Zhao Bingzhi, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Since its launch in June 2004, "Criminal Law Review" (Volume 1·2003) has received considerable praise from readers, and some esteemed scholars have also proposed valuable suggestions for improvement. This has undoubtedly strengthened our confidence in continuing to produce "Criminal Law Review." In 2004, the academic endeavors of the Criminal Law Research Center at Renmin University of China reached new heights and achieved fresh accomplishments. The Center not only successfully organized (co-organized) over ten international and domestic academic conferences, such as the First China-South Korea Criminal Law Academic Conference, the 3rd (9th in total) 21st Century Japan-China Criminal Law Academic Symposium, the Sino-US Criminal Law Hot Issues Symposium, the 2nd China-South Korea Criminal Law Academic Conference, the China-UK Series Forums on Limiting the Scope of Capital Punishment, the Symposium on Difficult Issues in Intellectual Property Crime, and the Academic Symposium on the Prospects of Reverting the Power to Approve Capital Punishment to the Supreme People's Court, but also assisted the China Law Society in hosting the 17th International Society of Criminal Law Conference. Additionally, the Center conducted academic exchanges with over ten countries and regions, including the United States, Russia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and the Hong Kong, Macao Special Administrative Regions, as well as Taiwan. Moreover, it published over 50 academic works, including "Chinese Criminal Law Cases and Theoretical Studies" (6 volumes) and "Comparative Studies on Emerging Crimes in the Contemporary Era" (10 volumes), and authored over 130 academic papers. At the same time, the full-time and part-time researchers, as well as doctoral and master's students of the Center, continue to actively engage with the realities of criminal law and justice, publishing over a hundred short essays, commentaries, and interviews in various media, which have generated widespread and positive impacts on society and laid a solid foundation for further improving "Criminal Law Review." The 80 essays in "Criminal Law Review" (2004 volume) are selected from over 100 short essays, interviews, and commentaries published by the Center's full-time researchers, some part-time researchers, and doctoral and master's students in various media during 2004. These essays cover topics such as constitutional amendments and progress in criminal law and justice, the scope of criminal law regulation, evaluation standards for criminal behavior, the implementation of the principle of legality in criminal law, criminal law interpretation, the relationship between conviction and personality, modernization of criminal punishment, the limitation of capital punishment, the execution of property penalties, corruption crimes, human rights protection in combating terrorist crimes, cyber crimes, criminal law protection of social credit, the decriminalization of victimless crimes, criminal law issues arising from entrapment investigations, criminal law protection of consumer rights, amnesties for economic crimes, the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse incident involving U.S. troops in Iraq and international human rights protection issues, as well as other issues in the application of criminal law. These topics encompass the various important issues that emerged or existed in the field of criminal law and justice in 2004. We are fully aware that the construction of criminal law and justice is not an overnight endeavor and cannot be independently undertaken by any single wise, virtuous, or dedicated individual. It relies on the advocacy, promotion, and practice of knowledgeable individuals at all levels and in all aspects, as well as the awakening of the public's legal consciousness and the emergence of legal demands. Therefore, we hope that "Criminal Law Review" can, under the guidance of the state's basic policy on the construction of criminal law and justice, awaken legal consciousness, foster legal demands, advocate legal principles, promote legal progress, and implement legal policies, thereby making its due contribution to the development of criminal law and justice in our country.