Criminal Law Interpretations (Volume 9)

Author: Chen Xingliang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: On April 28, 2005, I gave a lecture on "The Judicialization of the Principle of Legality" at the Law School of Beihang University. During the Q&A session that followed, an audience member asked me this question: Why are Chinese legal scholars now increasingly focusing on judicial issues, and what is the academic significance of this? I answered as follows: The shift in the academic perspective of Chinese legal scholars from focusing on legislation to focusing on the judiciary precisely reflects the historical progress of China's rule-of-law construction. China's rule-of-law development has evolved from a legislative-centered approach aimed at addressing the issue of "no law to go by" to a judicial-centered approach focused on ensuring "law is strictly followed."
In the 1980s, China began its rule-of-law construction process. This period marked the country's emergence from the "Cultural Revolution," and social life was largely in a state of "no law to go by." Under these circumstances, China launched a large-scale legislative movement, symbolized by the promulgation of the 1979 Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law. Here, I use the term "movement" to emphasize the unprecedented scale and duration of this legislative effort. Due to China's ongoing social transformation and the rapid changes in social life, legal modifications became necessary.
After the first wave of large-scale legislation in the 1980s, a second wave of large-scale legislative activities, primarily focused on legal amendments, began in the late 1990s. Although the laws enacted may not be perfect, they fundamentally addressed the issue of "no law to go by" and significantly advanced China's rule-of-law development. However, as legislative activities concluded, the importance of the judiciary became increasingly evident. Only through effective judicial practices can laws be applied to resolve various social disputes and fulfill their intended role in real life. In this context, the incompatibility between China's judicial system and its rule-of-law goals gradually became apparent, leading to the launch of judicial system reforms.
Although judicial reforms are still underway, it is precisely through these reforms that scholars have begun to focus their attention on the judiciary. The shift from focusing on legislation to focusing on the judiciary reflects not only the progress of China's rule-of-law construction but also the genuine theoretical self-awareness of Chinese scholars. Criminal Law Case Studies is an academic effort aimed at promoting the rule of law in China's judiciary, with a particular focus on criminal law cases and interpretations. While the content of this volume primarily addresses criminal judicial issues, the authors explore these topics from a high level of legal theory, making the work highly academic.
In the "Studies on Specific Crimes" section, Zhou Guangquan's article "A Study on Fraud" provides a detailed analysis of fraud, which is of great significance for understanding its essential characteristics. The article breaks down fraudulent behavior into the following four stages:
1. Deceptive conduct;
2. The victim's mistake;
3. The disposition act;
4. Property damage.
For the criminal, the act is deceptive conduct, while the victim's mistake is the subjective error caused by the deception. For the victim, the act is a disposition act based on a subjective mistake, such as handing over property, and property damage is merely the result of this act. It is clear that fraudulent behavior is composed of the actions of both the criminal and the victim. Only in this way can the crime of fraud be properly understood.