A Study On "Seeking Benefits For Others" In The Bribery Crime

In 2016, the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese governments have three major missions:anti-corruption, shaking off poverty, and party construction, among which anti-corruption is the cornerstone of all work, and thus greater emphasize should be put on it. Hence, under the background of the CPC Central Committee in the face of the requirement of social anti-corruption and under the great pressure of anti-corruption public opinion, institutional as well as judicial efforts need to be made to strengthen anti-corruption. Since 2013, and to promote the development of anti-corruption legislation system, in terms of the deployment of anti-corruption work requirements. Certain achievements have been made in anti-corruption due to the great attention paid by the government, while at the same time, many new issues have been exposed, especially the law application to the crimes of corruption and bribery, which have arouse extensive controversy among the theory circle and the judicial circle. Although the issue of The Amendment (9) to Criminal Law of PRC and The Interpretation of Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Corruption and Bribery ("the Interpretation") has clam down to the above disputes to some extent, those disputes have not been settled yet.In China, the society is still in the high-incidence period of corruption and bribery, and thus we should commit to the development of more stringent criminal laws and policies to punish crimes of corruption and bribery. At present, under the impetus of the anti-corruption wave by the 18th Congress, the scope of bribery crime tends to be broader and the punishment is severer. Especially, on April 18,2016, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued "the Interpretation", which is the first judicial interpretation with respect to The Specific amount Calculated and Sentencing Circumstance of the Corruption and Bribery Crimes, after the amount calculated of the corruption and bribery crimes in our criminal law have been amended in The Amendment (9) to Criminal Law of PRC and other relevant provisions, and it is of important directive value to accurate judgment of the corruption and bribery crimes in the judicial practice. The issue of the Interpretation has provided a clear standard and reference for conviction and punishment to the judicial practice for dealing with corruption cases, which, obviously, plays a positive role.However, from the perspective of rational legislation and fine justice, there is still room for further improvement for the Interpretation. Particularly, according to the Interpretation, the amount and circumstance for the crimes of corruption and bribery has been clearly determined, and some difficult issues in relation to the crime standard of bribery have been explained, including the interpretation of the crime of accepting bribes for "seeking benefits for others". According to article 13 of the Interpretation, the four judging rules on how to determine the crime of "seeking interests for others" have been made, which has solved the problems existing in judicial practice that has long been plagued by the acceptance of bribes. However, this interpretation itself is a product reflecting the position of pragmatism. In view of the current situation of the construction of a country ruled by law in China, I believe that, the interpretation of criminal law, such as "The Interpretation", should be made on the basis of the rules doctrine and law doctrine, without fully determined by the practical one. In this article, research, reflection and discussion about the four judging rules on how to determine the bribery crime-"seeking benefits for others" described in article 13 of the Interpretation have been carried out, followed by a brief comment on the article 13 of "the Interpretation", and analysis of its theoretical basis, four specific judging rules and the scope of application. In addition, drawing on relevant foreign legislative practice, possible defects and their corresponding improvement programs will be put forward.