Bribery in the United States: Substantive Law and Procedural Law

Author: Wang Yunhai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: As is well known, the United States is a federal state, and its legal system also distinguishes between federal and state laws. This can be said to be one of the characteristics of American law. However, when it comes to the laws related to bribery offenses, federal law is representative and comprehensive. Understanding federal law is almost equivalent to understanding the relevant legal provisions across the entire United States. There are two reasons for this. First, since World War II, the United States has been committed to drafting a unified state code. In 1962, the American Law Institute completed the compilation of the Model Penal Code, and to this day, most states have adopted it. The provisions in this code regarding bribery offenses are almost identical to federal law. Second, in the United States, jurisdiction over crimes is determined by the location of the crime, the perpetrator, and the victim. Areas such as the postal service, currency, and interstate commerce fall under federal jurisdiction. If any of these aspects are involved in the process of bribery, the federal government gains jurisdiction. Therefore, in practice, bribery cases are more often under federal jurisdiction than state jurisdiction. As a result, the scope of this book is limited to federal law. Although this book is primarily intended as a reference for studying the laws related to bribery offenses in the United States, it also explores the application of U.S. bribery laws from a sociological legal perspective to better understand the actual state of criminal regulation of bribery offenses in the U.S. Additionally, it briefly analyzes the implications for China.