Study On Suicide-caused Act Evaluated In Criminal Law

What we probe in criminal sphere of the cause of suicide is suicide of criminal victims caused by actus reus. Suicide-caused act evaluated in criminal law is both a sophisticated theoretical issue and important practical ploblem. The article aims to find the real standpoint of norms and criminal justice prcatices in China’s criminal sphere. And whether the standpoint meets the modern criminal law spirit. And carrying on the judicial application of the issue in the interpretation of criminal law. This article is divided into eight sessions.The confusion of criminal recognizaion and valuation of suicide-caused act stems from both norms and practices. Putting forword and carrying out the questions with sorting out the crimes which punish suicide-caused circumstance, whether to imputate the outcome of suicide to the wrongdoer is the center question. Still, some ralevant questions of suicide-caused act shall be answered.There are different understandings of suicide in theory and judicial practice. According to the theoritical and practical analysis, we should define it as the situation that victim take suicide after being harmed by the actus reus, which causes serious injury or death. On the recognition of voluntarity, the probability standard shall be adopted.The causation of actus reus and suicide is main study topic of suicide-caused act. The traditional criminal causality theory including necessity and contingency, direct and indirect, lawful and factual causation in China which neglect imputation judgement should be abandoned. The theory of common possibility, the theory of objective attribution of continental law system and the double-leveled theory of common law system both value the imputation judgement of causation. In comparison, protection scope of the legal liability and validity of Tatbestand in the theory of objective attribution limits the crimination circle in maximum. Our criminal justice practice should pay more attention to the imputation judgement of causation.Responsibility doctrine is the basic principle of modern criminal law. The objective imputation has been abandoned. Without consideration of the mens rea of the suicide-caused person intentionally or negligentlly causes victim’s suicide and have foreseeability, may be contrary to responsibility doctrine. The standard of negligence should be the original theory. Unfortunation is not in the sphere of criminal law. Suicide could be interpreted as unfortunation of the wrongdoer that should not be imputed. Whether regarding the cause of suicide as aggregated consequential offense or objective penalty requirement also violates the principals of responsibility doctrine.The responsibility of the victim should be considered of suicide-caused act in the perspective of victimology. The punishment of suicide-caused act reflects the Legal Paternalism theory to some extent, which inconsistent witht the Self-responsibility doctrine accepted in the Freedom paradigm of the moden criminal ideology. "Self-responsibility" should be affirmed when considering victim’s liability. when civil liability serves better, there was no need of launching criminal punishment.On the overall study of criminal theory, and learn from the representative legislative patterns, then could answer the questions presented in the second session. Accordingly, tentatively puting up with the position of "non-criminalization in principle, and the criminalization exceptional". The overcriminalization of suicide-caused act in our country should be narrowed.