On The Interpretation Of Criminal Law In China

The application of criminal law can not be separated from its interpretation. The interpretation ofcriminal law is an important part of its theory in which case the research for it is of great significance. Inthis thesis, on the basis of the national conditions of China, the author will give a systematically discuss ofthe interpretation of criminal law to find the deficiencies and to clarify his own point of view so that it canhelp to perfect the system of criminal law interpretation in China.The thesis is divided into three parts: introduction, body and conclusion.The significance, the state of researches, the originality and the research methods will be discussed inintroduction.The body part is divided into five subparts. The first subpart is the basic theories of the criminal lawinterpretation. In the author’s opinion, the concept of criminal law interpretation should be understood asthe process and conclusion of the clarification of criminal law meaning for the subject to reveal themeaning and the specific application of criminal law norms.The criminal law interpretation has the following characteristics: the universality of subject, thespecificity of object, the associativity of specific cases, the value orientation and the circularity. On theclassification of criminal law interpretation, there are different standards. According to the existence or notof the force of law, the interpretation of criminal law is divided into authorized and unauthorizedinterpretations in the first place. Then, the authorized interpretation is further divided into legislative andjudicial interpretations and the unauthorized into theoretic and ordinary interpretations. In terms ofinterpretation principles, the principle of legality, rationality, and purposiveness must be complied with.Besides, the characteristic of language, the stability, abstractness and the escapable imperfection ofcriminal law make it necessary to give an interpretation of criminal law.The second subpart is the basic ideas of criminal law interpretation. The criminal law interpretationhave constraints based on the principle of crime and penalty and the basic standpoints of criminal lawinterpretation. There are three basic standpoints, including subjective, objective and compromiseinterpretations in which the author goes along with the objective one.The third subpart is the legislative interpretation of criminal law in China. The author defines criminal legislation as the process and conclusion of the clarification of criminal law meaning for the NPC StandingCommittee to reveal the meaning and the specific application of criminal law norms. The ways oflegislative interpretation only refers to the interpretation of the ambiguous provisions by legislature in theprocess of criminal law enforcement. The nature of legislative interpretation must be legal interpretationtotally. With respect to the force of legislative interpretation, there isn’t any agreement in reality, so it isvery confusing and the author just summarizes and analyzes the main points about it.The fourth subpart is the judicial interpretation of criminal law. As to the subject of the judicialinterpretation, the author holds that the judicial interpretation of the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate shouldbe canceled. In the aspect of the distribution of judicial interpretation system, the author suggests that weshould set up a “unitary level”system of judicial interpretation system, which means that only the SupremePeoples Procuratorate enjoys the right of the judicial interpretation. In the course of the judicial practice,the frequently occurred excessive judicial interpretation of criminal law becomes the focus of critism. Theauthor puts forward strategies after examining the cause of the excessive judicial interpretation of criminallaw, hoping to contribute to the healthy development of the criminal law in our country.The fifth subpart is the theoretical interpretation of the criminal law. This part is a brief introduction ofthe concepts and the characteristics of the theoretical interpretation of the criminal law, special on theaccount of the concrete methods and the applicable rules of the criminal interpretation. Through theanalysis of the concrete interpretation method in the guidance of the fundamental philosophy of the judicialinterpretation, the author induces the applicable rules of judicial interpretation methods, i.e. the statusrelationship of the theory interpretation, the system interpretation and the purpose interpretation. And thethree interpretation methods are indispensable in the process of the judicial interpretation, while otherinterpretation methods are not necessary used, only as an explanation reasons.In the conclusion part, the author makes the judicial interpretation system in our country understoodthrough a careful analysis of the each part of this thesis. And the author points out the problems and putsforward solutions instead, which does a clear-cut responsibility, a mutual cooperation and a mutualcoordination in the legislative interpretation of criminal law, the judicial interpretation of criminal law andthe interpretation of the criminal law theory, so we can applicate it to the judicial practice.