Crime and Punishment in 18th Century China - Book Report/Review Example

Crime and Punishment in 18th Century China 18th century China was ruled by the Qing dynasty, which established the Qing Legal code. The Qing Legal code set up a criminal justice system that was based on a very detailed criminal code. The code was categorized into two main components: penal law and administrative law. Penal law prescribed punishments behavior, and administrative law established the duties of the officials. The center piece of the penal law is the "code of punishments" The penal codes contained rules which prescribed punishments for specific offences that establish the punishment to be allocated, or principles of interpretation. A specific punishment was assigned for every offence. The criminal justice system was operated by administrative officials and the task of the magistrate was to identify the proper name of the offence disclosed by the facts. Suspects and criminals were arrested by the county police or the posthouse chiefs who were subordinate to the county chief of police and brought before the local magistrates. The local magistrates were fully authorized to apply the full range of possible punishments even the death penalty. All cases regardless of their gravity, were heard in the court of the district where the crime was committed. The magistrate investigated facts first before determining guilt or innocence and then meted out the sentence for the offence in accordance with the code. In the book Yuan Drama, a story is told of the execution of Chen Shimei where Judge Bao, a famous judge, ruled in the matter against the royal official. The official had forsaken his wife and family. When his family tried to look for him, he sent a servant to secretly kill them. However, judge Bao did not relent to the immense pressure from the imperial family and proceeded with the execution. One vital principle of Chinese law was that a person could not be convicted of a crime without a confession .In cases where the sentence was bigger than a beating, the case was forwarded to the next superior court for appeal. In cases of penal servitude, the prefect’s decision was final. Cases of exile or death were automatically reviewed by the provincial governor. All homicide cases and all cases attracting the death sentence were sent to the capital for review by the highest judicial tribunal, the Board of Punishments. A sentence of death could not be executed without the emperor’s approval, except in extreme circumstance (Cheng 23). The magistrates were administrated by the code and sub statutes. Sub statutes were more specific and more detailed than articles codes. The most authoritative were those approved by the emperor for inclusion in the code. They often contained rules that were not found in the articles or sub statutes. In cases where no ambiguous article or sub statute could be invoked, previous decisions by the Board of Punishments was used. A story is told of how the Xu clan and Wu clan were embattled in a law suit regarding an ancestral grave which had cost them a lot of money. A young man hailing from the Xu clan cut his throat before the Board of Punishments and the Emperor Daoguang ordered a lawsuit to be dissected regarding the behavior of the young man. The governor of Liangjiang let the Prefect of Jiangning who investigate the facts of the case and proceeded to give judgment in accordance with the code (Cheng 76). The code resembled traditional Chinese traditional law where equality in the eyes of the law was never officially accepted as a legal principle or practice. The code put great emphasis on maintaining the distinct ranks and order among the nobility. As a result, li (ritual and etiquette) governed the conduct of the nobles while Xing (rules of punishment) governed the commoners and slaves. However, there were judges who accepted equality as a legal principle in the eyes of the law. For example, in the execution of Bao Mian who was judge Bao’s nephew. The case was brought before him regarding Bao Mian’s accusation of bribery as a magistrate. Judge Bao was faced with a big dilemma since the accused was his family member, however, he continued with the execution of his nephew. The nobles and officials were beyond the reach of the law. The Qing law provided that when an official committed an offense the emperor had to be informed. Officials could not be punished or interrogated without prior approval of the emperor. Officials under investigation had the power to complain to the emperor with regards to oppressive investigative processes. Officials could also redeem punishment through the payment of money or through rank reduction. When an official committed an offense, he was punished by being beaten 10 strokes of the bamboo or he could be imposed a fine the equivalent of two-month’s salary. The law operated in favor of the officials in disputes between officials and commoners. The higher the official’s rank, the more legal protection he was afforded. Therefore, when a commoner beat a third ranking official he was punished by being imprisoned for two years if no injuries were present and three years if there were injuries inflicted. When the injuries were serious, punishment was banishment of three thousand li. If the official, who had been assaulted was of the fourth and fifth rank, the punishment would be reduced by two degrees but if the official being assaulted was sixth rank and below, the punishment was stipulated at a rate of two degree above the beatings of ordinary people. Crime and Punishment in China Today China’s criminal justice system is made up of procurates, correctional institutions, the police, and courts. The central level is consisted of the Ministry of Public Security which is responsible for the administration of the police force and the Ministry of Justice which is responsible for managing the correctional facilities of the country.The highest court in the judicial system of China is the Supreme People’s Court, while the Supreme People’s Procurates, is the top most branch tasked with dealing with legal supervision and focusses primary on prosecution. The other departments such as the police bureaus, procurates, and courts in the various levels and the justice departments are formed in order to fulfill their respective roles in accordance with their jurisdiction. China uses a legal system that can be classified as Marxist in accordance with the First article of Criminal Law. The article is based on the Marxist-Lennist Mao Zedong Thought, which are used to guide the law principles currently applied in China. Legislation in the People’s Republic of China, regarding criminal laws, is viewed by the legislators as a tool for the ruling class/state for using force to oppress the lower classes. In fact, the criminal law is a representation of the ruling class, which is responsible for the classification of certain laws as crime (Sommer 89). The public security branches ,the people’s courts and the people’s procurates all have different roles and responsibilities with emphasis placed on the division of labor with the aim of guaranteeing the effective and swift enforcement of the law. The people’s procurate courts are tasked with approving arrests, conducting investigations and procurial work, and implementing public prosecution procedures. The security branches of the public on the other hand are responsible for investigating criminal cases, detaining alleged perpetrators of the crime, and preparing the examination of criminal cases. The people’s courts are then responsible for passing judgment on alleged criminals brought before them and if found guilty they are taken to prison or other establishments of reform for the execution of the sentence passed by the courts. The People’s Mediation of Justice plays a small role in the justice system but is only responsible for cases that are of private prosecution in nature which require mediation outside the people’s courts. History of Criminal Justice System Each dynasty in China has historically used their own set of customary laws and written statutes in order to deal with criminals. There are famous statutes over the past that have set precedents of law, such as the Jiuxing criminal laws associated with the Zhou Dynasty, the Hanlu Laws of the Han Dynasty, the Damiglu criminal code of conduct established in Ming Dynasty or the Yuxing criminal laws developed in the Xia dynasty and the Tanglu laws of the Tang dynasty. It should be noted that a key feature of all these laws is that the criminal justice systems were run by administration officials. The People’s Republic of China was established in 1949 and with it, came political changes. With the Communist Party in power, it abolished laws that had been established in the old government and replaced them with new ones. The government first validated laws set in the Kuomitang regime, which included the constitution, criminal law, criminal procedure law, civil procedure law, civil law and commercial law and a socialist legal system was formed. In later years, other measures were adopted such as establishing the National People’s Congress in 1954, adopting legislation on Reform through Labor of the People’s Republic of China in 1957, and making new drafts on laws relating to civil law, criminal law, and procedural law regarding both civil and criminal cases. The People’s Republic of China took 30 years thereafter to enact its first laws and in 1979, China had no set legal standards that could be used by judges to prosecute criminals. The Interim Regulations of the People’s Republic of China was used to supplement criminal law in matters concerning the punishment of service members that had abandoned their duties to the state and other amendments of the criminal law, which were adopted by the National’s People’s Congress (“Punishment, and Policing in China "134 ). In the People’s Republic of China, crimes are classified into 8 categories relating to the crime’s object. The classifications are as below:- a. Crimes that undermine the economic order of socialism. Such crimes include-passing off trademarks under falsehood, illegally cutting down trees and smuggling. b. Crimes that are of counter revolution in nature. These crimes are deemed to be endangering the People’s Republic of China and its inhabitants. Such crimes include treason, rebellion, and espionage. c. The other category involves crimes that endanger the security of the public, crimes that endanger the lives of the people and the property of the people. These crimes include arson, causing traffic accidents, explosions, breach dikes, spreading poison, trading, and transporting firearms and offences relating to the causation of major accidents. d. The other category includes crimes that infringe upon the rights of a person and rights pertaining to a person practicing democracy. These crimes include rape, homicide, forcing women into prostitution, abducting innocent civilians ,bodily harm, the sale of human beings, unlawful entry into people’s personal homes, defamation, humiliation, giving false testimony to an officer of the police force or the judiciary bodies, torture and forcing people into giving false witness to crimes being committed. e. There are crimes that are responsible for the disturbance of social order in the country. These crimes include harboring fugitives of the law and criminals in general, disrupting public functions, manipulating official documents, seals and certificates, gambling and other forms of hooliganism. f. Crimes relating to the dereliction of duty. These crimes include subjecting imprisoned offenders to abuse and corporal punishment and bribery related offences. g. Crimes pertaining to the disruption of marriages and the family set up-abducting children, abandonment of children, the physical abuse of a family member and bigamy. The law also divides crimes further into classifications according to Criminal Procedure Law. It divided the offences into those under public prosecution and those to be prosecuted under private prosecution. In China, the age of criminal responsibility is 16 years but a person who ranges between the ages of 14-16 years can be held liable for crimes he commits such as homicide, robbery, arson, infliction of bodily harm, arson, habitual theft and other crimes that the social order deems bearable for one to be held socially responsible for. Under these circumstances, it depends on the way the punishment is executed and the severity of the punishment. Any person under the age of 18 years cannot be imposed on a death penalty by the courts and in cases where a perpetrator of a crime cannot be punished due to him being under the age of 18 years, the guardian, or the head of the family, is subjected to the penalty instead. In some cases, the person at times may be offered rehabilitation or shelter by the government. Drug offences are categorized according to the Criminal Law, which includes the manufacture, distribution, sale, and transportation of drugs. However, the use of drugs is not defined as a criminal offence. An amendment to the Criminal Law, in the form of the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to expound on matters relating to narcotic drugs, classifies drug related offences as -possessing or holding drugs, taking actions in order to entice ,con, instigate or coerce others into using drugs( Bakken 13). The police are required to use force discretely. The police carry handcuffs, batons, and pistols when carrying out their duties .The law confers unto them the right to defend themselves and stop the commission of a crime. They are however only required to use their guns as a measure of last resort to prohibit the following situations from occurring:- a. When the offender attempts to escape or resist arrest or steals the official weapon(s) being carried by the officer of the law during arrest or detention. b. When an offender is caught in the act of committing a violent crime that puts the lives of civilians at risk. c. When a perpetrator is attacking an object that is under the protection of a police officer. d. When there is a group or multitude of offenders that are attempting to raid a prison, or in cases where prisoners are attempting to break out of prison. e. When the offender(s) threatens the life of a police officer. There are 5 types of principal penalties and 3 accessory penalties for criminal offenders under the provisions of the criminal law. The principal criminal penalties include fixed term imprisonment, life imprisonment, the death penalty, control/Guanzhi, and Judi, which means criminal detention. Guanzhi is imposed on offenders charged with minor cases and the perpetrator of the crime in most cases, is able to continue working while serving his/her sentence under the supervision of public security agents. The penalty ranges from 3 months to 2 years and the offender is mandated to make periodic reports regarding his whereabouts to the security agents. Juyi is also imposed on offenders convicted on minor offences but the perpetrator is confined to a detention house rather than prison but is deprived off the right to freedom. The penalty ranges from 15 days to 6 months and the offender is permitted to go home for a period ranging from 24-48 hours (Tter 67). Fixed term imprisonment penalties range from a period of 6 months to 15 years but the period may be longer if the penalties are combined which may sum up the penalty to 20 years. Accessory penalties include the deprivation of political rights, confiscation of private property and fines. The criminal law reserves the death penalty for serious crimes like murder, serious property crimes, and rape. The penalty however cannot be imposed on juveniles or women who are pregnant during the assignment of the sentence. Persons sentenced to death where immediate execution is not essential, may be given a 2-year execution suspension, which is preceded by reform carried out through manual labor. Offenders who are deemed to have repented when the 2-year sentence expires may have their sentence reduced to periods between 15-20 years. However, those that are deemed non-repentant are executed through shooting. Works Cited “Punishment, and Policing in China." The China Journal (2006): 171. Print. Bakken, B. Crime, Punishment, and Policing in China. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Print. Tter, Frank. Crime, Punishment, and the Prison in Modern China. New York: Columbia UP, 2002. Print. Alexander, William, and George Henry Mason. Views of 18th Century China: Costumes, History,Customs . London: Studio Editions. 1988. Print. Cheng, Yu. Ming Qing Shi Ren Yu Nan Dan . Di1 Ban. ed. 2010. Print. Sommer, Matthew Harvey. Sex, Law, and Society in Late Imperial China. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford UP, 2000. Print. Read More