On The Restraining Of Criminal Law In Water Traffic Accidents

The maritime traffic accident represented by the collision of ships is an unavoidable phenomenon in the whole history of maritime transportation,and with the vigorous development of water transport and other water production activities,the number of the maritime traffic accident show an upward trend.Different cases of causing traffic accidents on water often involve different legal relations.Some cases only involve pure civil legal relations,while some cases also involve criminal acts and generate criminal legal relations,the need for states to initiate criminal law to impose criminal sanctions on suspects/accused persons.However,criminal sanction is the most severe disciplinary measure,and the initiation of criminal law should follow strict procedural review at all times in order to avoid the excessive expansion of criminal law and its huge negative impact on the parties concerned and society,that is,criminal law should maintain the utmost degree of restraining.There is a great controversy in the academic and practical circles about whether the crime of causing traffic casualties on water should be created.Those who hold the negative view hold that the Criminal Law of Article 133 of the Criminal Law can be directly used to deal with the criminal cases of water traffic accident,and it is not necessary to create new charges separately.The positive view is that due to the particularity of the water traffic accident case,the criminal law needs to keep the utmost restraining,and should create an independent water traffic accident crime to ensure the accurate and proper application of the criminal law.This article is divided into four parts.The first part expounds the general meaning of the restraining of Criminal Law and its special connotation in the case of water traffic accident.The second part analyzes the reason of abiding by the restraining of criminal law in the case of water traffic accident.The third part summarizes the concrete embodiment of the restraining of criminal law in the case of water traffic accident.In the fourth part of this article,this thesis attempts to explore the ways to achieve the greatest degree of restraining and restraint in criminal law from the angles of establishing the crime of causing traffic accidents on water,refining the standards of conviction and sentencing,perfecting the system of early intervention in criminal investigation and the connecting mechanism of civil,administrative and criminal relief,in order to maintain the authority and dignity of Criminal Law and the development of maritime shipping economy in the process and outcome of handling cases of causing traffic accidents on water,finally realize the balance and unification of legal effect,economic effect and social effect.