Research On Judicial Determination Of The Crime Of Throwing Objects From High Altitude

The Amendment to the Criminal Law(XI)passed on 26 December,2020 regulates the crime of throwing objects from high altitude as the crime of disturbing public order.As this crime is newly added,the content of the law is more abstract,the relevant judicial interpretation has not been issued,and there are still some difficulties in the determination of this crime in judicial practice,which is worthy of analysis and exploration.To accurately define the crime of throwing objects from high altitude,we shall strictly distinguish it from non-criminal,and comprehensively consider the protection of legal interests,the criteria of violating law,and the “serious circumstances”.Throwing objects from high altitude is an act that seriously disrupts public order,and only when the circumstances are serious can the crime of throwing objects from high altitude be established.The understanding of “serious circumstances” shall be evaluated from the risk of objective behavior,the subjective malignancy of the perpetrator and the harmful results.In order to prevent the expansion of the criminal circle,according to the principle of legality of crime and the modesty principle of the criminal law,the high-altitude parabolic behavior with “minor circumstances” shall be treated as non-criminal.At the same time,the crime of throwing objects from high altitude has the problem of co-occurring with other crimes.Before throwing from high altitude is issued as an independent crime,a large number of high-altitude parabolic acts were identified as the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous methods.The distinction between the two crimes should be based on whether high-altitude throwing behaviors are equivalent to dangerous behaviors such as arson and explosion,and whether specific dangers are generated and thus endanger public safety.In addition,the crime of throwing from high altitude is also concurrent with the crime of violating personal rights,the crime of infringing property and the crime of provocation.In judicial practice,we shall carefully convict and distinguish according to the legal interests infringed by the act of throwing objects from high altitude,the subjective psychology of the perpetrator and the harmful results,so as to clarify the main points of judgment when the crime of throwing objects at high-rise is concurrent with other crimes.When determining the crime of throwing objects from high altitude,attention should also be paid to: 1.Strictly define high-altitude parabolas and high-altitude falling objects.The main difference between them lies in the subjective mentality of the perpetrator.The act of throwing objects from high altitude is implemented by the perpetrator deliberately,while falling objects are mostly due to the perpetrator’s subjective negligence or accidents;2.The behaviour of throwing objects from high altitude under certain special circumstances can also be regarded as crime,such as throwing animals from high altitude,or the perpetrator is not at high altitude but at low altitude with the help of external force to control the object falling from high altitude;3.There are indirect principal offenders and omission offenders in the crime of throwing objects from high altitude,which shall be identified according to the specific circumstances;4.In judicial practice,it is necessary to guard against the wrong positioning of high-altitude projectile crimes as“zombie provisions” and “pocket crimes”.