Empirical Research On The Judicial Application Of Pick-pocketing Theft

Since pick-pocketing theft was added to the criminal law separately in 2011,the scholars have discussed deeply on whether it is necessary to add "pick-pocketing" to the criminal law separately,as well as the behavior characteristics,amount of crime and criminal pattern of "pick-pocketing",with certain research results.However,in the judicial practice for pickpocketing theft exits obvious imbalance in sentencing.The reports about pick-pocketing with a very low amount and still being sentenced to prison have aroused public panic and insecurity.As the scholars focus on pick-pocketing theft mainly concentrated in provision of law,little attention on it based on practical data.Whether the theoretical results can effectively solve the problems existing in judicial practice,and whether there are theoretically unresolved problems in judicial practice are more worthy of attention.Therefore,starting from judicial practice and based on objective survey data,this article finds out and analyzes the practical problems existing in such crimes,trying to put forward effective suggestions and corresponding countermeasures to solve the applicable problems of pick-pocketing theft.In addition to the introduction and the conclusion,this paper is divided into four chapters,about 36000 words:The first chapter: relevant information of the research.First of all,the age of Big Data and the publication of judgment documents provide the feasibility for this research.The lag of laws and the existence of practical problems indicate the necessity of this research.Secondly,this paper explains the expected purpose of this research,finds out the problems of SiChuan province's pick-pocketing theft in judicial practice through investigation and analysis,and seeks for solutions.The third part is the explanation of the significance of the research.This research can promote legislation of "pick-pocketing",make the judicial practice have legal support,and finally better guide the judicial practice of pick-pocketing and maintain the authority of law,so that the law can play its due role.The fourth is to introduce the research objects and methods to prove the authentic and scientific of the research.Finally,the basic information of the defendants in the survey sample is briefly explained to understand the main characteristics of the defendants.The second chapter: the judicial application of pick-pocketing theft.This part mainly analyses the investigation samples,namely,the judgment of pick-pocketing theft concluded by the first trial procedure of basic-level people' courts of SiChuan province,from four aspects,including the essential factors of pick-pocketing theft,criminal pattern,the applications of sentencing penalty,etc.It is to understand the judicial application of pick-pocketing theft as a whole.The third chapter: the problems in the judicial application of pick-pocketing theft.This part mainly analyze the statistical results above,respectively from four aspects: behavior characteristics,the standard,the application of sentencing and punishment of pick-pocketing theft.First of all,it introduce the controversy of theory.Then,analyzing the problems that exist in the judicial application.Firstly,whether it is necessary for pick-pocketing to take place in public places and how to define "public places";Whether it is necessary for pick-pocketing to "carrying" the belongings of the victim and how to define "carry" are prominent problems and they cause the differences of cognizance.The second is that the standard of the amount of pickpocketing theft is not clear,but also the amount of the aggravated punishment is ignored.The third is the application of the discretion of sentencing is not standardized and confusion.Fourth,there are problems in the penalty application of penalty of the pick-pocketing theft,such as the high rate of imprisonment and the low amount of fine.The fourth chapter: Suggestions on the judicial application of pick-pocketing theft.This part is mainly based on the statistical data of the second part,aiming at the existing problems found in the third part through analysis,and combining with the relevant criminal law theory to put forward suggestions,so as to achieve the compatibility of crime,responsibility and penalty in the conviction and sentencing of pick-pocketing theft.To be specific,first of all,the behavioral characteristics of pick-pocketing theft should be unified: it is clear that "public place" is a necessary condition for the establishment of pick-pocketing theft.And “public place” is one that is accessible to an unspecified number of people or that includes a majority of people.To make it clear that "carrying" is the core element of the pick-pocketing theft,and to make a limited the explanation of "carrying" is limited by personal dependence.Secondly,the amount of pick-pocketing theft should be specified: the amount of pick-pocketing theft should be limited,and the "huge amount" and "extremely huge amount" of pick-pocketing theft should be specified separately from ordinary larceny.Third,the unfinished crime pattern of pickpocketing should be recognized according to law: there are unfinished crime pattern of pickpocketing theft,but it is not necessary to be all regulated by criminal law.And,when the sentencing is harmfulness to be regulated by criminal law,relevant provisions of criminal law should be applied to punish.The fourth is to clarify the effect of judicial application of the discretion of sentencing: first,the judicial interpretation or guiding cases are used to standardize part of the discretion of sentencing;second,the court is required to deepen the reasoning of judgment documents;finally,the system of sentencing recommendations is improved to standardize the application of discretion of sentencing.The fifth is to expand the application of non-custodial penalty and property punishment.