The Study On Interpretation Of Criminal Law

The process of legal application is the process of legal interpretation,and the process of legal interpretation is the process of transforming the law stipulated on the paper into the law in the real world through certain methods of interpretation.Therefore,the rationality of legal interpretation methods directly affect the rationality of legal application.Especially,the application of the criminal law is nothing more than that.Based on this,the study of legal interpretation methods has always been the key and difficult points in criminal law community.Teleological interpretation is the most important and controversial legal interpretation method with positive theoretical and practical significance.Value judgment and substantive judgment are introduced into teleological interpretation on the criminal law,which makes teleological interpretation the most flexible,inclusive and flexible interpretation method that can directly reflects and expresses the purpose of criminal law.It is also because of this flexibility and improper purpose interpretation that will bring the impact on the stability of the law.Hence,the scholars have some concerns when using teleological interpretation.Such conflicts and contradictions are more obvious in the criminal law which emphasizes nulla poena sine lege and which is the most prudent,and make the norm and regulation become the mainstream discourse in the study of the interpretation of the criminal law.According to the conclusion of this dissertation,fruitful achievements have been made in academic community,but further explorations are needed in certain issues.This dissertation mainly follows the paths: theory interpreting-demonstrating the rationality of the existence of teleological interpretation of criminal law;problem excavating-demonstrating the practical difficulties encountered in the application of teleological interpretation of criminal law;countermeasures refining – demonstrating the whole idea of teleological interpretation of criminal law and illustrating the specific application in judicial practice.This dissertation discusses the following aspects:Firstly,to demonstrate the rationality of the existence of teleological interpretation of criminal law,that is,the theoretical basis and positive functions of it.To rationalize the theoretical context and to establish and consolidate the ideas of teleological interpretation of criminal law,can help people firmly understand the positive meaning of teleological interpretation of criminal law.In the sense of general philosophy,everything has its purpose;in the sense of legal philosophy,the law has its own purpose of existence and it is specific in the field of criminal law and its purpose.In this way,"purpose" must be considered as a consideration in the application of criminal law.Moreover,the law is not an accurate,purely speculative logical deduction and we cannot expect once the "legal text system" to be established,the "exit of law maze" can be found.On the contrary,law is a discipline of experience,and it is inevitable that users need personal experience to participate in it.Therefore,the concept of “a judge cannot explain the law” in the school of Concept of Law and Classical Theory of Criminal Law,could not be adopted in reality.In short,in order to realize the substantive justice of the criminal law,it is imperative to allow the interpretation,especially the teleological interpretation to be introduced into the criminal law.Compared with other interpretation methods of criminal law,the teleological interpretation has its own unique function,which can alleviate the dilemma of the application of criminal law.The innate and conservative forms of expression and inherent character of the law have determined the natural contradiction between the pursuit of precise interpretation of law and the reality of ever-changing cases with the development of social situation.The requirement of nulla poena sine lege have made the contradiction in criminal law more prominent than other legal disciplines.Teleological interpretation aims to alleviate the contradiction effectively and to show the basic functions of restraining the uncertainty of the text of the criminal law,evaluating the dispute between the conclusions of the interpretation method and introducing the criminal policy to the application of the criminal law.Secondly,the realistic predicament of teleological interpretation of criminal law is discussed in this dissertation.This article holds that the analysis of the predicament of teleological interpretation of criminal law lies in two dimensions: the inner core element-the purpose of the criminal law and the external technical path-the application of the criminal law.Therefore,the predicament can be analyzed in two aspects: one is the inner core element,mainly manifested in the uncertainty of the teleology as the standard of interpretation,namely,the position and purpose to explain the criminal law;the other is the external technical path,mainly manifested in the relationship between other methods of interpretation and teleological interpretation of criminal law,including the influence from the direct interpreter – the judiciary and the most profound norms outside criminal law – criminal policy.In extrinsic predicament,this article holds that:(1)the dispute between "subjective interpretation and objective interpretation","formal interpretation and substantive interpretation",reflects the uncertainty of teleology in time and space.That is,it should be interpreted from the purpose of legislation or the purpose of reality;it should be interpreted under the rigid rule of law and within the text meaning,or under the essential rule of law and the proper expansion of text meaning.(2)the connotations of teleological interpretation of criminal law reflect the methods to balance the relationship between the purpose of the general principles,chapters and provisions of the criminal law and that of the constitution,including the values in handing criminal cases.In external predicament,this article holds that:(1)in the boundary of criminal law,other criminal interpretation methods can effectively regulate the teleological interpretation,especially semantic interpretation and systemic interpretation.As to the incorrect understanding of the relationship between other criminal law interpretation methods and teleological interpretation,it is difficult to correctly understand teleological interpretation of criminal law;(2)outside the boundary of criminal law,considering how the judiciary use their rights to make teleological interpretation and how criminal policy affects teleological interpretation: the judiciary cannot make rational teleological interpretation in the imperfect power mechanism and the teleological interpretation must be affected by the unsound comprehension of criminal policy.Thirdly,the countermeasures of teleological interpretation of criminal law are discussed in this dissertation,which is about the perfection and specific application in practice.This article holds that,when it comes to the inner predicament of teleological interpretation of criminal law,(1)when establishing an interpretative standpoint,there is a unified theoretical basis in the arguments between the subjective interpretation and the objective interpretation,the formal interpretation and the substantive interpretation.In fact,the "subjective purpose" in the legislation contains the "objective consideration” that the law should meet the needs of the reality,although this consideration may be abstract or too weak.The formal interpretation and the substantive interpretation are not contrary or exclusionary,and both have the common pursuit of the ideal rule of law,even the "rule of law" has its own edges and limits in practice.(2)when establishing the connotation of the teleology,we should notice that the internal logical connection among the purpose of the criminal law in the constitution,the purpose of the criminal law itself,chapters and provisions of the criminal law.The upper is the leader of the lower,and the boundary of the lower is determined;the lower is the embodiment of the upper,and the true content of the upper is determined.As long as we follow the correct logic,there will be no conflict of contents.When it comes to the external predicament of teleological interpretation of criminal law,(1)when establishing the relationship between teleological interpretation and other interpretation methods,we should focus on the levels of application and the levels of efficacy.The following ideas need to be determined.Firsty,the interpretation of the criminal law is the process of the comprehensive application of the interpretation methods.Even if it looks like to be explained in only one interpretation method,actually some analyses are needed to consider whether there are some conflicts in the results obtained by teleological interpretation and the results obtained by other interpretation methods.The levels of the interpretation methods of criminal law cannot be fixed accurately,but judged by the requirement of nulla poena sine lege,teleological interpretation should be taken firstly in the levels of application,while semantic interpretation should be taken firstly in the levels of efficacy.(2)outside the boundary of criminal law,in order to regulate teleological interpretation of criminal law,firstly,we should improve the existing mechanism so as to protect the judiciary from interference when making rational teleological interpretation.This article,taking the prosecutors as an example,discusses how to strengthen and standardize the legal interpretation power of the prosecutor under the background of the current reform of judicial responsibility system and the reform of the criminal procedure system focusing on the trial.Secondly,we should establish a correct understanding of the criminal policy,including the establishment of a unified and standardized,a correct and proper mechanism of understanding.Besides the above,this paper discusses the specific application of the interpretation of criminal law: through two concrete cases of criminal judicial practice,such as the identification of the crime of dangerous driving and the coordination between the thirteenth article-"proviso" in the criminal law,the relationship between the common fraud and the contract fraud,teleological interpretation in the general provisions and specific provisions,and that in the different articles of criminal law are demonstrated respectively.Through the evolution of the meaning of prostitution and whoring,the understanding of the death in the crime of causing traffic casualties,the operation of current judicial responsibility system and criminal policy,the relation between the interpretation of criminal law and other criminal law interpretation methods(mainly semantic interpretation and systemic interpretation),and the relation between judicial power and criminal policy are demonstrated.By explaining the case with teleological interpretation of criminal law in the judicial practice,the paper shows the communication model between theory and practice,and shows the feasible mode of guiding judicial practice with the theory of law.In a word,the topic of this dissertation stems from the author's observation on criminal law practice in judicial practice,from the author's thinking on the interpretation of criminal law in the individual cases,and from the author's attention on the justice of the criminal law when the judiciary is weighed.The author's central idea is that teleological interpretation of criminal law is indispensable in the application of criminal law,no matter it is the implicit application or explicit application;teleological interpretation of criminal law establishes a direct pursuit of the value and substance of the purpose of criminal law,with extreme tension and elasticity,and this may also bring it into the risk of being misused;the uncertainty of the content of the "purpose" as the interpretation standard and the nonstandard of interpretation technology are the "cause force" and "propelling force" of the risk.In order to control the risk,it is necessary to define the concept and category of the "purpose",to standardize its relationship with other criminal interpretation methods,to consider the judiciary's scope of discretion,and to examine the influence of the informal law sources outside the criminal law such as criminal policy.The teleological interpretation of criminal law is not omnipotent,but it does have positive significance and be indispensable.The accompanying risk in the application of teleological interpretation of criminal law cannot be absolutely eliminated,but can be controlled.This is the correct direction pursued by researchers and users of criminal law.This dissertation attempts to put forward a relatively comprehensive,practical and feasible set of thoughts for the application and standardization of teleological interpretation of criminal law.Limited by ability,there are several omissions.Further considerations for the theme of this study will be the unremitting pursuit of the author's study and work in the future.