On the Basis of the Legitimacy of the Criminal Law Legislation——A Historical Interpretation

Abstract

The analysis of the basis of criminal law legislation legitimacy ,as a grand system proposition ,needs to be developed from historical ,political ,economic ,and cultural perspectives.The constitutional thought of popular sover?eignty and representative system in modern societies gives the people ’s deputies the subject qualification for people ’s legislation. The rise of civil societies ,to an extent ,has restricted a political state ’s power of punishment;the judgment of whether an action should be punished by criminal penalty and whether it is harmful to society is the result of the mea?surement by the state ’s subject of value judgment-the society ’s main culture group–according to its interest desires. The historic change of law standards has required a change from statist criminal law to democratic criminal law;the crim?inal law ’s nature as the last means of legal interest protection has decided penalty ’s contraction rather than expansion. Moderate criminal circle and penalty reflect human beings ’spirit of tolerance in the field of criminal law. The substantial clarity and the content ’s appropriateness of the principle of a legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime ensure the rationality of criminal law ’s substantive content.All these are indispensable fundamental elements for the legitimacy of the criminal law legislation.