The Criminal Law Characterization Of High-altitude Throwing Crimes

In judicial practice,the controversy over the legal characterization of high-altitude throwing crimes is significant.When dealing with such cases,the courts often employ ambiguous expressions and avoid reasoning when explaining the grounds for characterization,which affects the persuasiveness and acceptability of case judgments.To solve such problems,it is essential to utilize the interpretive function of criminal law and take "legal interests" as a leverage point,insisting on its guiding role in determining the core elements of the legal characterization of high-altitude throwing crimes.Upon reviewing the current judgments in high-altitude throwing criminal cases,the conviction of such acts presents phased and differentiated characteristics.Combining the Supreme People’s Court’s "Opinions on Properly Handling High-altitude Throwing and Falling Cases in Accordance with the Law" and the"Criminal Law Amendment(Eleventh)" promulgation time points,it is evident that convictions for high-altitude throwing crimes have shifted from simultaneous and differentiated charges to the widespread application of "endangering public safety by dangerous means" and eventually to the current highly prevalent use of "high-altitude throwing crimes." Behind the qualitative and criminal transformation,there is a lack of sufficient explanation and justification of the qualitative criteria and reasons for conviction of the crime of throwing objects from a height.At the same time,an analysis of the use of legal interests in the case judgments reveals that some of the judgments are controversial in terms of the characterization of the act,and there are obvious differences in the courts’ handling of the controversy.Regarding the crucial criterion of legal interests for defining the scope of criminal punishment and interpreting and applying different charges,some documents neglect the analysis of legal interests.Even in documents that mention or analyze legal interests,there are cases of insufficient or biased analysis,resulting in a disconnection between facts and characterization in the judgment reasoning section,and the absence or misplacement of legal interest analysis.The existence of the above phenomenon comes from the lack of the application of the theory of legal interests.To study criminal characterization,it is essential to first clarify the type of legal interests infringed upon by the behavior.The legal interest theory in criminal law is relatively mature,both domestic and foreign scholars have reached a consensus on the interpretative function of legal interests,asserting that the interpretation of criminal composition during crime determination must be guided by legal interests,and the interpretation conclusion should conform to the logical framework of "the behavior constituting the crime infringes upon the legal interests protected by the crime." Therefore,the application of the interpretative function of legal interests in the judicial determination of high-altitude throwing crimes can be summarized as the identification of legal interests,the judgment of specific behaviors infringing upon legal interests,and using them as indicators to interpret and apply specific elements of separate provisions to achieve accurate determination.High-altitude throwing behavior is not necessarily applicable to the specific charge of "high-altitude throwing crime." In handling high-altitude throwing crimes,such throwing is only a type of behavior.Although the "Criminal Law Amendment(Eleventh)" establishes a separate charge for high-altitude throwing crimes,it is still necessary to analyze the legal interests that may be infringed upon by such behavior.When characterizing high-altitude throwing crimes,legal interests should serve as an essential indicator,and accurate criminal characterization should be achieved through the identification of legal interests.