Research on the Spirit of Restraint in Criminal Law

Author: Wang Mingxing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-29
Features: The spirit of criminal restraint is an import. Currently, research on the spirit of criminal restraint in the Chinese theoretical field is relatively weak. In fact, the spirit of criminal restraint should permeate the entire criminal law. Legislatively speaking, the spirit of criminal restraint restricts the scope of criminal regulation. What acts should be defined as crimes, and what acts should not be defined as crimes—these are important reference points. In reality, the principle of statutory crime definition and the principle of proportionality between criminal liability and punishment are themselves carriers of the spirit of criminal restraint. The criminal theory section, which covers the scope of criminal liability for minors, the determination of criminal liability for joint offenders, the incomplete forms of crimes, the issue of one crime versus multiple crimes, as well as criminal excludable circumstances such as self-defense and emergency escape, fully reflect the spirit of criminal restraint. The criminal penalty section, including issues such as the application of the death penalty and the scope of long-term freedom, is also closely related to the spirit of criminal restraint. The specific crimes in the criminal law's special provisions are even more guided by the spirit of criminal restraint. Additionally, the spirit of criminal restraint involves the critique and inheritance of China's current theory of criminal constitutive elements. Theories such as the possibility of expectation and strict liability are all intricately linked to the spirit of criminal restraint. In summary, the spirit of criminal restraint holds significant theoretical value. Establishing a systematic spirit of criminal restraint will undoubtedly benefit the development of criminal law theory.