Compensation For Mental Infringement In Criminal Cases

Compensation for mental infringement is one of the essential parts in civil tort cases, but it is still not approbated in criminal cases in China. As a regulation to compensate and relief the sufferers from mental distress caused by illegal offense, compensation for mental infringement mainly asks payments from infringers, and the amount of the payment depends on the estimation from the judge. Currently many other countries support the idea that this regulation can be applied in criminal cases, while in China, legislators of criminal laws have different opinions. They think compensation can be replaced by penalty, and the interest of the society should be taken more care than interests of individuals. However, compensation and penalty are distinct in nature, they can neither be exchanged nor equalized. Criminal laws should not be allowed to deprive civil rights from victims as well. By applying this regulation in criminal cases, not only internal contradictions can be mediated, compensation regulations can be consummated, different judgments made on similar cases can be prevented, but also an efficient way to combat crime and protect human rights can be provided. It meets the criteria of private law principles and equity and justice principles. While using this regulation, the following principles must be kept: fully protection on victims, justice, and emphasis on compensation. At the same time, conditions it applies, components of duties, subjects of rights, payers and payment process should be clearly defined. Regarding to the amount of the compensation, it can be calculated using modern technology such as artificial intelligence. If an infringer perform his obligation actively, he should be considered given a less punishment.