| Elderly crimes have become an increasingly prominent problem along with the growing of the old in China, which has attracted attentions from all walks of life. According to PRC Criminal Law Amendment Act(8), when the old over 75 years old committed crimes, they shall be punished leniently. Hence, it is a great progress in Chinese criminal legislation to take lenient punishment of elderly crimes into penal stipulations, manifesting that the same same maintaining social order,Chinese penal law also emphasize the protection of personal interests and that criminal legislation in China has an inclination for mitigation and humanitarianism. However, there are still defects in stipulations about lenient punishment of elderly crimes. Firstly, the age for lenient punishment of elderly crimes is highly set and the age-diving method of“universal application” neglects the differences of criminal capacitythat various age group can bear. Secondly,the vagueness of statutory provisions will decrease their operability and the disunity of understanding on the law between different judicial offices will cause differences in the application of the law. Finally, it is presently still in blank field as for the law aimed at recidivism, abatement, parole etc., and the defects in lenient punishment of elderly crimes will result in incomplete protection of the interests of the old who have committed crimes. Therefore, it is necessary to improve lenient punishment system for the old from the spirit that penal legislation in China aims at protecting the interests of vulnerable groups, decreasing the starting age of lenient punishment for old criminals, detailing their criminal liability according to their criminal capacity and expressing various laws andregulations clearly. Also, stipulations about recidivism, abatement and parole should be added to rationalize the system. |
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