The Research Of "Wu Lun" And "Bu Zuo" In Traditional Criminal Law

To clarify the relationship between the crime and punishment and make them equal was the fundamental pursuit of traditional criminal law.Different from the generalization of the current criminal law,the traditional code stipulated the crime and punishment in detail,weighed the circumstances and determined its punishment,and adjusted the original punishment for new circumstances that may occur.Because the traditional criminal law failed to clearly distinguish between "crime" and "penalty","Wu Lun" and "Bu Zuo" covered innocence and impunity,and the final result was no punishment.The reasons for impunity were different,including not being punished for being related to the criminal or just for his malfeasance.In the form of expression,the lawmakers used judgmental sentences,and the form was extremely concise,which was different from the documents handed down and other codes.Due to the terms were not uniform,there were plenty similar expressions in the code.In terms of distribution,the distribution of "Wu Lun" in law and shu is more balanced.Shu quoted "Wu Lun" and "Bu Zuo" in the law and notes to explain.In terms of usage,"Wu Lun" and "Bu Zuo" could be divided into three categories.One was to directly stipulate no punishment.The other was to explain or reiterate the object of punishment to further clarify the legislative intent.The third was to adjust the punishment based on the new situation or the new circumstances.This usage was widely used in law and shu,and "ruo","qi","ji" were used to hint a turning point.On the whole,the two terms were quite similar to each other,but there were two subtle differences.First,in comparison,"Wu Lun" focused on the cause of impunity,and "Bu Zuo" focused on the result or state,which could be verified by explaining "Wu Lun" with "Bu Zuo" and the discussion between the texts.Second,"Bu Zuo" only meant that there was no criminal responsibility,such as civil and administrative liability could-not be excluded.While the criminal should also "divorce and restore original identity","hand over","compensate","repair" or "penalty" if he was sentenced to “Bu Zuo”.There was no such usage for "Wu Lun".Codes of later dynasties inherited the relevant content and made some adjustments.First,the formulation was more detailed.Second,in terms of content,legislators paid more attention to the role of subjective mentality in punishment and the protection of official and private property.Although the influence of ethical factors on the punishment has been reduced,the subordinate status of women has increased.Third,they are not interpreted as "not punished" or "exemption" any longer."Wu Lun" means that no matter which procedure it went,it would no longer be investigated.The criminal should be adjudicated under law as well and the judge should express the reason for not punishing.They were be distinguished by procedure.The changes in thelegislative field in the late Qing Dynasty completely eliminated the existence basis of "Wu Lun" and "Bu Zuo."The two terms could be attributed to no serious damage or no damage to the legal benefits.The former mainly included two factors,namely,forgiveness and the balance between etiquette and law.Certainly,they were not unprincipled.Such as crimes seriously endangering the ruling order or national security and serious violent crimes were excluded.So was the latter.The state's modest concession to the family was limited to "misdemeanor",while "felony" was not included.All these cases,and so on,reflect the efforts made by the lawmaker to achieve a balance between the crime and punishment.The stability of the traditional criminal law also stemmed from this source.On the one hand,the previous criminal law was moderately appropriate happening to meet the consistent pursuit of traditional criminal law and the brief provisions and flexible legislative techniques could meet the need for duly adjustment.On the other hand,there was not any qualitative changes among the social structure,so traditional criminal law remained stable in content.In addition,the attitude of legislators was also a requisite.The awe or recognition of previous experience made the stability of criminal law finally implemented.In a word,through sorting out the content of "Wu Lun" and "Bu Zuo" in the traditional criminal law,it is conducive for us to understand the balance of the crime and punishment,the way to achieve the legislative stability and the pursuit behind it.It can provide a reference for the current legislation.