Study On Principle Of Crime And Penalty Defined By Law Of The New Criminal Code Of Qing Dynast

The New Criminal Code of Qing Dynasty, initiating the criminal law in modern China, provides the principle of crime and penalty defined by law, which highlights its advanced nature. The introduction of the principle is a historic turning point in the developing history of the criminal law in China.It has the pivotal function in the Chinese criminal law developing process, therefore studies the principle of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime in The New Criminal Code of Qing Dynasty also to have the vital significance. It is introduced from the West, and there is no such a principle in our country before. In this thesis, Chapter one is the introduction to the basic content of the principle, including its origin, ideological foundation, development as well as its transition. And then the difference between the doctrine and the principle of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime as well as the cause of the existence of the doctrine of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime on the thinking level will be further elaborated. Chapter two discusses the background of the principle introduced to China. Firstly, with the intrusion of Western powers in late Qing, the capitalism sprouts, which leads to the great changes in economic structure; secondly, Qing government carry out legal reforms to protect themselves; finally, a number of progressive jurists and thinkers in late Qing play a significant role in the introduction of the principle. Chapter three mainly explains the embodiment of the principle in the New Criminal Code of Qing Dynasty and analyzes the legal provisions and implication manifesting the principle as well as how these provisions manifest the principle. The last chapter expounds the influence of the principle. Firstly, the principle advocates the advanced thoughts of equivalence, freedom and humans'rights, which strikes the traditional monarchical power and thought of rule of man in ancient China; secondly, on the system level, the New Criminal Code of Qing Dynasty explicitly provides the principle of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime and deletes the traditional criminal law of the "analogy invoked", which severely hits the rules of the settlement of the lawsuits in the feudal society; thirdly, the introduction of the principle influences the enactment of the criminal law during the Republican period. Especially, in the Northern Warlord government and National government, the legislation of the criminal law imitates provision of the principle of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime in New Criminal Code of Qing Dynasty, which embodies the function of the principle in the criminal law. The introduction of the principle of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime in the New Criminal Code of Qing Dynasty illustrates its far-reaching effects on the later criminal law and fully reflects its advanced nature. The enactment of the principle of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime in the New Criminal Code of Qing Dynasty is the most important step in the developing history of Chinese criminal law as well as the prelude to the modernization of the criminal law.