求解過度犯罪化的迷惑？中國的去罪化經驗

Solving the Puzzle of Overcriminalization? The Experience of Decriminalization in China

過去幾十年，西方國家見證了刑事法的擴張過程其導致刑事司法系統疲於應對大量輕微違法。為了應對過度犯罪化問題，全球的犯罪學家因此提倡去罪化。中國政府嘗試透過僅將嚴重違法行為規定為犯罪的方式去控制犯罪，並將行政違法和民事違法行為去罪化。中國刑法典清晰地將嚴重違法行為定義為犯罪，並且聲稱除此之外的不滿足犯罪嚴格標準的行為將不是犯罪。這些非犯罪行為按照行政程序處理，而不是刑事程序處理。輕微違法被進一步分為治安違法、行政違法、紀律違法。借助於跨國視角下的犯罪定義不同模式比較，這篇文章探索了中國刑事司法系統去罪化的深遠意義，並且利用中國三個法院的判決書資料為此提供了經驗證據。

Western countries have witnessed the expansion of criminal law over the last several decades, leading their criminal justice system to be overloaded with minor offenses. To address the problem of overcriminalization （ 過度犯罪化） criminologists around the world advocate for decriminalization（去罪化）. In China, the government attempts to control crime by criminalizing only serious offences while decriminalizing regulatory offences and civil infractions. The Penal Code clearly defines crimes as serious offences, and declares that other minor offences that fail to meet stringent criteria of crimes be decriminalized and disposed in accordance with administrative procedure rather than criminal procedure. Minor offences can be further classified into public security offence, administrative law violation, or inner administrative offence. Comparing different types of crime definitions in cross-national perspectives, this article explores the profound implication of decriminalization in China’s criminaljustice system, and provides empirical evidence of such a practice based on judicial documents collected from three courts in China.