A Research On Certain Issues Concerning Illegal Detention For Debt

According to the provisions of subparagraph 3,paragraph 238 of the Criminal Law of China,the perpetrator who illegally detains and holds others in custody for the purpose of obtaining the debt shall also be subject to the crime of illegal detention.The theoretical and practical fields often regard such cases as special cases of unlawful detention.Thus,the crime of illegal detention for debt is not an independent offense under the provisions of current Chinese Criminal Law,but only a more special type of general illegal detention.Although the current criminal law and related judicial interpretations do explain the meaning of the crime of illegal detention for debt,but few words are not enough to clearly define the crime,not enough to make it distinguish from kidnapping,extortion,robbery and other crimes.Because of the ambiguity of the related legal provisions,coupled with different characteristics of different cases,how to define such crime is an issue of intense debate.This dissertation is pragmatic-oriented,and discusses the controversy about the debt and the debt detention itself in the judicial practice,so as to accurately define the crime of illegal detention for debt and make it distinct from other crimes such as kidnapping.At the same time,concerning the frequent occurrence of involvement of hired perpetrators in the crime of illegal detention for debt,this essay shall briefly analyze such kind of phenomenon in the legal context.This dissertation is divided into four chapters.The first chapter gives an overview of the crime of illegal detention for debt,focusing on the analysis of the concept and characteristics of the crime of illegal detention for debt in order to define the general meaning and the scope of illegal detention for debt.At the same time,a brief history of the legislation on the crime of illegal detention for debt is presented as to reveal the difficult parts of defining such crime.The second chapter mainly analyzes the scope of the debt and the effect of the amount of the debt claimed by the perpetrator of illegal detention for debt on the defining of such crime act.The third chapter focuses on the elements of act of the crime of illegal detention for debt and explores the contents of the means of such crime and the object of behavior.The fourth chapter analyzes the different types of employers’ responsibilities in the judicial practice when it comes to the illegal detention for debt.