Research On The Time Validity Of Criminal Law Interpretation

The issue of time validity of criminal law interpretation is getting more and more attention and research with the development of the criminal law interpretation in China nowadays. There are lots of controversies on the time of becoming effective, becoming void, and the retroactivity in theory and in practice. The rules of time validity of the criminal law shouldn't be applied mechanically to the criminal law interpretation, but should make a concrete analysis of concrete problems, with dividing the criminal law interpretation into legislative interpretation and judicial interpretation.The first part summarizes the time validity of criminal law interpretation. After setting forth the concept and content of the time validity of criminal law, the author analyzes the properties of legislative interpretation and judicial interpretation, and elicits conclusion that the rules of time validity of the criminal law shouldn't be applied mechanically to the criminal law interpretation. The time validity of the legislative interpretation adheres to the articles being interpretered. Meanwhile, the time validity of the judicial interpretation has relative independence because of the jurisdictional exertion and the fact of legislative character of judicial interpretation in China.The second part works over the date of effectiveness of the criminal law interpretation. On one hand, the legislative interpretation so adheres itself to the article that its effective time is equal to the article, on the other the judicial interpretation has its independent date of effectiveness. The author agrees to adopt the theory of publicizing and interval.The third part studys on the date of being void of the criminal law interpretation. The date of termination of legislative interpretation is equal to the article being interpretered but not the criminal code. The judicial interpretation has its relatively independent date of termination with explicit and implicit ways. The author approves of the explicit way for the application consistently. The fourth part pays attention on the retroactivity. Firstly, after setting forth the concept and rule of retroactivity of criminal law, the author analyzes the legislative interpretation and judicial interpretation separately, and holds that the legislative interpretation has retroactivity under one condition but the judicial interpretation has retroactivity under two conditions. The legislative interpretation adopts the theory of application synchronously. The judicial interpretation adopts the theory of application synchronously under the first condition and the theory of adopting the latter or the less severe ones under the second condition. Secondly, the author evaluates < Regulations on the Time Validity of the Criminal Law's Judiciary Interpretation> promulgated in 2001,and points out the disadvantages in practice. Thirdly, the author discusses about some other questions on the retroactivity, such as the controversy between the retroactivity and the matter adjudged, the retroactivity of interim interpretation, the retroactivity of multi-interpretation, the standard of degree in the interpretation, and the application unitarily of retroactivity.In conclusion, after analyzing the property of the criminal law interpretation, the practice in China and the content of the time validity, the author puts forward her inclined opinion and insists that the legislative interpretation adheres itself to the article in the time validity, meanwhile the judicial interpretation both has dependence and independence in the time validity. The author expects that the paper would be beneficial to the practice of the issue of time validity of criminal law interpretation.