中国少數民族區域的刑法变通硏究

Abstract

According to Article 90, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law of the Peoples’ Republic of China (“PRC”), the People's congresses of the autonomous regions or provinces may formulate adaptive provisions based on the political, economic and cultural characteristics of the local ethnic groups and the basic principles stipulated in the Criminal Law. “Adaptive criminal laws” are widely applied not only in terms of the gravity of crimes but also in the context of determining crime and non-crime by considering the traditions, custom, customary criminal laws and criminal policies of the ethnic autonomous region concerned. Customary criminal laws in ethnic minority communities are not able to take strong and bold measures such as measures 'to remove' or 'to get rid of' because these laws consist of traditions and custom accumulated over many years. Such customary criminal laws must be respected and, in this regard, it is very wise and appropriate that the PRC Criminal Law allows formulation of “adaptive criminal laws”. From the 1979 PRC Criminal Law to the current Criminal Law, People's congresses of the autonomous regions or provinces have been granted legislative power to formulate “adaptive criminal laws”. Until now, however, none of the People's congresses of the autonomous regions or provinces has ever enacted any “adaptive criminal laws” for ethnic minority autonomous regions. In order to ensure the legal basis of the “adaptive criminal laws” that are actually taking place in ethnic minority regions, it is necessary to amend the references to “the People’s congresses of the autonomous regions or provinces” in Article 90, Paragraph 1 of the PRC Criminal Law as “the People's congresses of the ethnic autonomous regions”. Such amendment will enable the People’s congresses of the ethnic autonomous regions at or above the county level to formulate “adaptive criminal laws” in their autonomous regulations and special regulations.