The Criminal Law Response To The Suicide Pact

The pace of life in modern society is accelerating,and people’s psychological pressure is increasing.As a result,suicide pact is emerging in an endless number of cases.Therefore,suicide pact has become a hot word discussed by the public and the criminal law circle.But the adjudication result of judicatory practice caused certain controversy.At issue is when a suicide pact leaves one dead and the other alive,whether the survivor is innocent or guilty.If guilty,it is the direct,indirect or joint crime of intentional homicide,or it is the non-omission of intentional homicide.The author thinks,he judicial practice has unreasonable place on criminal law.First of all,from the Offender,People’s Republic of China Criminal Law on suicide with no separate charge,and it doesn’t meet the constitutive requirements of intentional homicide.It can’t be convicted as intentional homicide according to the principle of legality.Secondly,from the theoretical analysis of accomplice,it is legal for the accomplice to commit suicide.According to the accessory of accomplice,the accomplice who instigates and helps suicide cannot obtain the illegality from the legal accomplice.Thirdly,from the perspective of the theory of Inaction offense,the suicide survivors who make an appointment with each other don’t rescue the suicide victims,because he doesn’t have the obligation to act in the criminal law,there is no causal relationship between them and the death result of the suicide victims,so it doesn’t constitute the crime of intentional homicide of inaction.Therefore,accordingto our existing Criminal Law,the suicide survivors are not criminally illegal.Finally,the author suggests to add the charge of suicide participation.This article consists of four parts,the main structure is as following:The first part is an overview of the criminal law practice of suicide.This part first talks about the concept and legal nature of suicide disputes,that is,the theory of illegal suicide,the theory of legal suicide,the theory of extra-legal space and the theory of death right,then talk about my opinion.The second part is the general investigation of suicide and suicide pact.Firstly,tells the concept of suicide pact and the main elements,subject element,subjective elements,objective elements,followed by four forms of suicide pact,namely independent suicide,acceptance of promise suicide,abetting or help suicide in suicide pact,and following with five real cases in judicial practice respectively.Lastly discusses the disputes about the legal nature of suicide by contract,including the affirmative view,the negative view,the independent conviction view and the compromise view,and puts forward the author’s own views.The third part is the non-doctrinal analysis thinking and analysis of suicide pact.First of all,from the perspective of philosophy of criminal law,by applying Kant’s moral edicts to emphasize the free will of suicide and suicide pact.Then,from the perspective of comparative punishment law,by understanding Japan and Germany law about suicide pact,other relevant provisions and legislative process,to draw lessons from experience.Finally,from the perspective of theory of punishment law namely,in light of principle of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime,self-determination and self-responsibility theory.The fourth part is the thinking and analysis of the criminal doctrinal analysis of suicide pact.Firstly,I discuss the survivors of suicide pact doesn’t constitute a direct one and indirect crime of intentional homicide,and demonstrate it does not constitute joint offence.Then I penetrate the non-action of survivors in suicide pact,it doesn’t have an action duty,doesn’t have equivalence with action,and doesn’t have a causal relationship etc.,in order to demonstrate it doesn’t constitute intentional homicide as the non-action crime.