New Theory Of The Discontinuance Of Joint Crime

In the intentional criminal process, if the criminal gives up the criminal behaviorvoluntarily or prevents the criminal behavior to be effective, it is called Crime Discontinuance.Crime Discontinuance of Joint Crime is a special form of crime Discontinuance. Since noindependent legislation exists for crime Discontinuance of joint prime in China, the ordinarypractice is to apply the same legal provisions for crime Discontinuance of individual crime,which means crime Discontinuance of Joint Crime need to be timeliness, willingness,thoroughness and effectiveness. But the complexity involved in Joint Crime brings drawbacksto this simple method. As most of the other countries, in judicial practice, we adopt the “partof the implementation of all accomplished “principal, which is typical objectivism. Toqualify for crime Discontinuance of Joint Crime, the criminal has to voluntarily andeffectively prevent the crime consequences, and the un-occurrence of the crime consequencesis due to the behavior of criminal, which is to say, there need to be a causal relationship. Thismethod ignores that different criminals act and function differently in Joint Crime. It sets toohigh criteria for those plays a secondary role in the Joint Crime, which makes it impossible forthem to turn around once commit the crime. This is on contrary to the original intention of thecrime Discontinuance system–the bridge for criminals to back out.Considering the controversial issues existing in our present system and learning thetheory of “seceding from the relationship of Joint Crime” in Japan, this paper attempts torebuild a new independent crime Discontinuance determination system for Joint Crime,emphasizing on timeliness, willingness and secede.The paper has four parts in total besides the introduction. The first part is an overview ondifferent theories of crime Discontinuance of Joint Crime, briefly giving explanation andcomments on the three popular theories-objectivism, subjectivism and eclecticism.Following is a discussion of discontinuance effectiveness criteria theories existing amongdomestic criminal law scholars in China. As an inevitable result of the objectivism standpointof our Criminal Law, effectiveness means that the criminal’s attempt to discontinue crimeneed to effectively prevent the criminal consequences and has a casual relationship with thenon-occurrence of criminal consequences. However, this is improper for those who sincerelypays efforts but cannot prevent the criminal consequences. The third part is the theory reconstruction of crime Discontinuance of Joint Crime. The paper discusses the necessity andfeasibility of rebuilding the theory of crime Discontinuance of Joint Crime based onWithdrawal from accomplice offense relationship theory, explains the relationship betweenthe two concepts and points out the criteria used to determine withdrawal from accompliceoffense relationship. The forth part is a detailed applied about different types of Joint Crime inthe judicial practice.