Research On The Impact Of Victim’s Fault On Criminal Liability In Justifiable Defence Cases

In recent years,due to the frequent occurrence of justifiable defence cases,relevant application of criminal law has become an important subject to consider,in which,the impact of victim’s fault on criminal liability is the top priority.In legal practice,judicial personnel tend to adopt a more conservative pattern in judging court cases,makes it difficult to measure victim’s fault and its impact on perpetrator’s conviction and sentencing.In cases which victim’s fault is involved,different types of victim’s fault could have different impact on the distribution of criminal liability.In some cases,victim’s fault affects the establishment of justifiable defence,and in other cases,it only affects the level of criminal liability.Based on the analysis of four typical cases of justifiable defence,this paper finds that there are three different results of the impact of the victim’s fault on the distribution of criminal liability in justifiable defence cases: the victim is at fault but does not affect the distribution of criminal liability;the victim is at fault and affects the distribution of criminal liability;and the victim’s fault affects the degree of criminal liability.The victim’s self-responsibility,anticipated possibility and legal interest infringement all provide theoretical support for the victim’s fault participation in the distribution of criminal liability,the theory of legal interest infringement is more reasonable in explaining this issue.The liability reduce theory subjectively reduces the evaluation on personal danger of the perpetrator,hence is more reasonable than the theory of liability sharing.As for the unilateral fault of the unlawful infringer in the case of justifiable defence,the establishment of justifiable defence and over-defence should be judged in accordance with criminal guiding cases and judicial interpretations.For the situation where both parties are at fault,the victim’s fault should be included in the scope of criminal liability allocation based on the individual case conditions.If the behaviour of the perpetrator constitutes a justifiable defence,it does not constitute a crime and the criminal liability of the perpetrator should not be assigned.The victim’s fault in cases with special disputes are the cases of women who have suffered long-term violence and abuse in domestic violence and unlawful violations committed by minors or mentally disabled personnel.The former is understood as a special type of justifiable defence to convict the perpetrator,and when the justifiable defence system cannot be applied to certain situations,the defence of "battered woman syndrome" can be introduced to reduce the liability of the perpetrator;the latter should be allowed to carry out defence based on the purpose of protecting legitimate rights and interests,but it is justified only within reasonable limits.