Legal Study On Lenient Punishment For Elderly Criminal

With the coming of the aging stage, elderly crime brings the community’s close attention. The“Criminal Law Amendment (viii)” created the leniency penalties item for elderly criminals, whichshowed the legislators’ tolerance, but also caused a public debate. This paper tries to analysis thereasons for lenient punishment for elderly crime from the connotation and characteristics of elderlycrime, explore the defects of the lenient punishment for elderly crime regulated in the “CriminalLaw Amendment (viii)” and discuss how to perfect the leniency penalties item for elderly criminals.This paper is divided into six parts.The first part is the introduction. It will generally introduce the topic surrounding the basis andsignificance of the topic, the research status at home and abroad and the research methods.The second part is about the connotation and characteristics of elderly crime. Firstly, I willdefine the connotation of the old in the criminal law, which relates to the age standard for the old.My view of the elderly starting age is75years old. Subsequently, I will combine with the practiceof justice, and elaborate the characteristics of elderly crime with the specific data.The third part is about the reasons for lenient punishment for elderly crime. I will analyze therationality from the aspects of elderly criminal responsibility, the penal humanitarianism, the penalmodesty, the criminal policy of combining punishment with leniency, the traditional legislation ofour country and the experience of international legislation.The fourth part is about the leniency penalties item for elderly criminals regulated in the“Criminal Law Amendment (viii)”. By analyzing the different lenient punishment for the oldbetween intentional and negligent crime, the certain conditions on which the old can apply to thedeath penalty and the application of punishment for elderly crime regulated in the “Criminal LawAmendment (viii)”, I will conclude that our criminal law has some defects in the above aspects.The fifth part is the suggestions for the leniency penalties item for elderly criminals: thereshould be a statutory light or mitigated punishment for elderly crime; the old can not apply to thedeath penalty; there should be more lenient application of punishment for elderly crime.The sixth part is the conclusion. I will summarize the reasons for lenient punishment forelderly crime, and our law should increase the strength of lenient punishment for elderly crime.