Explanation and Application of Specific Crime Circumstances

Author: Bi Zhiqiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: The term "individual crime circumstances" refers to all factual circumstances that demonstrate the social harmfulness of a specific act and its procedural aspects, thereby constituting the act as a crime. Judicial practice has shown that individual crime circumstances play an extremely important role in accurately determining guilt and appropriately sentencing. First, individual crime circumstances are the quantification and refinement of the basis for determining guilt, serving as the fundamental and direct basis for distinguishing between guilt and innocence, different crimes, severe and minor crimes, and single and multiple crimes. Without individual crime circumstances, the existence and severity of a crime would lose their standard. Second, individual crime circumstances are also the fundamental basis for accurate sentencing. The provisions or recognized individual crime circumstances in the specific articles of the Criminal Code provide judicial personnel with clear and scientific sentencing standards. As long as judicial personnel accurately grasp and correctly apply the crime circumstances stipulated or recognized by the specific articles of the Criminal Code, achieving a "direct fit," they can appropriately sentence and realize the principle of proportionality between crime and punishment, ensuring that penalties are commensurate with the crime in criminal justice. Accurately applying individual crime circumstances not only holds criminal suspects accountable for their responsibilities but also ensures that the innocent are not unjustly pursued, fully protecting the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, and enabling the tasks and functions of the criminal law to be realized. Currently, while the utility of individual crime circumstances has garnered widespread attention from both academia and practice, there are few works that systematically, comprehensively, and deeply explain individual crime circumstances. At the same time, criminal judicial practice requires judges to have a macro-rational understanding of the constitution of crimes, while also demanding that they accurately grasp crime circumstances in judicial practice, especially the degree of severity, the extent of harm, and the causes of formation of individual crime circumstances. Only by accurately grasping the circumstances of individual crimes can one identify the distinct characteristics of this crime versus that crime, and grasp the severity of each specific individual crime. Only in this way can the application of the law be targeted, and the application of penalties can more fully reflect its appropriateness and fairness. Based on the above considerations, I once discussed with Vice President Bi Zhiqiang of the Hainan High People's Court the importance of exploring and researching individual crime circumstances. Comrade Bi Zhiqiang has been engaged in judicial work for many years and has long been in charge of criminal trial work, possessing both a high level of criminal law theory and extensive practical experience in criminal trials. Therefore, he was asked to lead the research on individual crime circumstances under the current Criminal Code, combining it with judicial practice, to study the individual crime circumstances involved in the specific articles of the Criminal Code, making them codified, standardized, and more operational, thereby facilitating their better utility in judicial practice. The book's analysis of the constitution of individual crimes, the interpretation of circumstances, and the severity of sentencing is closely tied to current laws and regulations while also integrating criminal law theory and judicial practice. The entire book revolves around the main axis of crime circumstances, with the relationship between individual crime circumstances and sentencing throughout the specific articles of the Criminal Code. From theory to practice, from legislation to judicial practice, it strives to use the interpretation of the law as a hub to integrate legal theory and judicial practice, and the strong practical value highlighted in the book can be considered one of its features.