Abstract

The Chinese corporate criminal responsibility is featured by the “Double Punishments” imposed both on the Unit who commit a crime and the persons who are directly in charge. As an attributable liability, corporate criminal responsibility requires more precise and detailed principles of attribution in the national criminal law. Unfortunately, it has not archived yet in Chinese Criminal Law. As well, at current, only one kind of monetary penalty, the fine, can be imposed on the Unit who commit a crime. It is far from enough to prevent corporate offences. On enumerating and analyzing Chinese criminal legislations concerning corporate criminal responsibility, the author finds the main deficiency in it and recommend on how to perfect it.

Highlights

  • Since the establishment of People’s Republic of China in October, 1949, it is not a long history in Chinese legal system to criminalize the corporate crimes committed by legal persons

  • The legal persons or legal entities were not allowed to operate independently in free market as a legitimate civil subject which has the legal capacities to enter into the relations with the other civil subjects for its own interests and take responsibility by its own assets

  • As for the corporate criminal responsibility, up to now, those judicial interpretations include the “Supreme Court interpretation on the specific issues related to the application of criminal law in hearing criminal cases involving crimes committed by units” (Supreme Court Interpretation No 17/1999) and the “Supreme Court interpretation on the question of whether or not, in hearing the cases of crimes committed by a unit, should distinguish principal criminal or the accomplice between the persons who are directly in charge and the other persons who are directly responsible for the crime” (Supreme Court Interpretation No 31/ 2000)

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Summary

Introduction

Since the establishment of People’s Republic of China in October, 1949, it is not a long history in Chinese legal system to criminalize the corporate crimes committed by legal persons. The “Organization” generally means any kind of entities, groups especially those in private sectors which are organized loosely, whereas the term of “Unit” includes any companies, enterprises, institutions and organizations, and some entities in public sector, such as the state organ which is the organ of state authorities or administrations It seems that the “Unit” is more suitable for the true situation in China because in some circumstance, the state organ can be criminal subject, there are some debates on this point. Regarding the corporate criminal responsibility, we can find the “Explanatory document from the research institution of Supreme Court on the issues related to the application of law in hearing the criminal cases involving the crimes committed by the foreign companies, enterprises and institutions within the territory of P. In order to give the outline of how is the corporate criminal responsibility established in the legal system of China, I will introduce those provisions at first, and conclude the main characteristics and deficiencies

Provisions in the Criminal Law of People’s Republic of China
Corporate Criminal Responsibility in the Judicial Interpretations
The Types of Corporate Crimes in the Criminal Law of China
The Single Crimes Committed by a Unit
Non-Single Crimes Committed by a Unit
The Characteristics of Corporate Criminal Responsibility in China
Double Punishment-Based Responsibility
Whose Act Can Be Attributable to the Unit Who Be Defined to Commit a Crime?
Which Kind of Conduct Can Be Defined as the Crimes Committed by a Unit?
Conclusions
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