6 Kao Ming-hsüan, Xin zhong guo xing fa ke xue jian shi = Hsin chung kuo hsingfa k''o hsüeh chien shih (A Brief History on New China''s Criminal Law Science).
Chinese People''s Public Security University Press, 1993 Ed., at 9.
122 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEGAL INFORMATION ［Vol. 36.1China promulgated its first socialist constitution7 onSeptember 20, 1954. On September 30 of the same year,the Commission of Legal Affairs of the Central People''sGovernment enacted the Zhong hua ren min gong he guoxing fa zhi dao yuan ze (cao an) = Chung hua jen min kungho kuo hsing fa chih tao yüan tse (ts''ao an) ［Principle ofGuidance to the Criminal Law of the People''s Republic ofChina (draft)］.8 This signaled that the drafting work of thecriminal code was formally embarking on its way fromacademic research to national legislation.
(a) Drafting Work on the Criminal CodeSoon after the establishment of the PRC, the enactment of acriminal code was placed on the legislative agenda of the centralgovernment. In July 1950, the first draft of the Program of CriminalLaw was completed, and in September 1954 the Commission of LegalAffairs of the Central People''s Government completed the Draft on theGuiding Principles of Criminal Law of the People''s Republic of China.9This includes a preface and three chapters totaling 76 clauses andprovides respectively seven types of crime, such as the offences of:
1. counter-revolution,2. defacing public property,3. acting against public order,4. acting against personal right,5. economic crimes,6. acting against a citizen''s property, and7. job-related crimes.
The completion of this legislative document was a symbol that thedrafting work on criminal code had formally begun. From then untilJune 1957, the Law Section of the Standing Committee of the NPCfinished twenty-two drafts on criminal code - in less than three years.107. Sun Wan-chung, Zhong hua ren min gong he guo zhu xi ling = Chung hua jenmin kung ho kuo chu hsi ling (Order of the President of the Peoples Republic ofChina), volume 1. China Democracy and Legal System Press, 2001 Ed., at 1-11.
8. Supra note 5, at 166-188.
9. Supra note 5, at 166-188.
10. For the Criminal Code Drafts of the thirteenth, twenty-first and twenty-second,see supra note 5, at 189-281.
2008］ ZHAI JIANXIONG 123(b) Separate Criminal RegulationsDuring the early 1950s China carried out several politicalmovements that were national in scope. These included repressingcounter-revolution and combating the Three Evils and the Five Evils.11A number of separate criminal regulations were also enacted, including:
· Regulations of the People''s Republic of China on PunishingCounter-Revolutionaries (approved on February 20, 1951 atthe 11th Session of the Central Government Council andPromulgated on February 21, 1951 by the CentralGovernment);12· Interim Regulations on Punishment for Impairment of StateCurrency (Promulgated by the Government AdministrativeCouncil of the Central People''s Government on April 19,1951);13· Stipulations on Confiscating Property of CounterrevolutionaryCriminal (adopted on June 22, 1951 at the90th Administrative Meeting of the GovernmentAdministration Council and Promulgated the Same day);14· Regulations for Suppression of Corruption of the People''sRepublic of China (Ratified on April 18, 1952 at the 14thSession of the Central Government Committee andPromulgated on April 27, 1951 by the CentralGovernment).1511. The movement against the “three evils” was the struggle against corruption,waste and bureaucracy launched at the end of 1951 among the personnel ofgovernment departments and state enterprises. The movement against the “five evils”
was the struggle against bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, cheating ongovernment contracts and stealing of economic information started at the beginningof 1952 among owners of private industrial and commercial enterprises. See MaoTse-tung''s On the Struggle Against the “Three Evils” and the “Five Evils”. SelectedWorks of Mao Tse-tung, Vol. V, People Press, 1977 Ed., at 53-55. The unofficialtranslation in English may also be read from the website, Reference Archive: MaoZedong, at
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-5/mswv5_17.htm> (accessed on November 20, 2007).
12. Commission of Legal Affairs of the Central People''s Government, Zhongyang ren min zheng fu fa ling hui bian = Chung yang jen min cheng fu fa ling hui pien(Collection of Decrees of the Central People''s Government) volume 1951, Law Press,1982 Ed., at 3-6.
13. Ibid, at 200-201.
14. Ibid, at 39-40.
15. Ibid, volume 1952, at 29-32.
124 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEGAL INFORMATION ［Vol. 36.1· Interim Measures on the Public Surveillance of Counterrevolutionist(Ratified on June 27, 1952 by the GovernmentAdministration Council and Promulgated on July 17, 1952by the Ministry of Public Security).16· Decision of the Standing Committee of the NationalPeople''s Congress on the Handling of the War Criminals ofthe Japanese War of Aggression Against China (Adopted onApril 25, 1956 at the 34th Session of the StandingCommittee of the National People''s Congress).17· Decision of the Standing Committee of the NationalPeople''s Congress for the People''s Courts to Decide onPublic Surveillance Over All Counter-Revolutionaries(adopted on November 16, 1956 at the 51st Session of theStanding Committee of the National People''s Congress).18· Decision of the Standing Committee of the NationalPeople''s Congress on Leniently Handling and Settling theRemnant Counter-Revolutionaries in the Cities (adopted onNovember 16, 1956 at the 51st Session of the StandingCommittee of the National People''s Congress).19· Resolution of the Fourth Session of the First NationalPeople''s Congress of the People''s Republic of China for theSupreme People''s Court to Decide on or Approve Decisionson Cases Involving the Death Penalty (adopted on July 15,1957).20B. Research WorksA number of academic works and theses were published duringthis period. Research in criminal law concentrated mainly on theintroduction and study of pre-Soviet Union''s criminal law theory.
China''s criminal theory was still in its inception, and research tasks oncriminal law included a number of key aspects discussed below.
16. Ibid, at 59-61.
17. Sun Wan-chung, Zhong hua ren min gong he guo zhu xi ling = Chung hua jenmin kung ho kuo chu hsi ling (Order of the President of the People''s Republic ofChina), Vol. 1. China Democracy and Legal System Press, 2001 ed., at 178-179.
18. Supra note 5, at 123-124.
19. Supra note 5, at 121-123.
20. Supra note 5, at 124-125.
2008］ ZHAI JIANXIONG 125(a) Issues on Retroactivity of Criminal LawRetroactivity of criminal law refers to such an issue thatwhether a new enacted law can apply to a case that has not been judgedor a judicial decision over it has not been decided yet before the newlaw going into effect. It is of practical significance to the retroactivity ofcriminal law in the transitional period from old criminal law to the newones. In April 1949, the People''s Government of North China issued adecree entitled Fei chu guo min dang liu fa quan shu ji yi qie fan dongfa lü de xun ling = Fei ch''u kuo min tang te liu fa ch’üan shu chi i ch''iehfan tung fa lü te hsün ling (Order on the Abrogation of Kuomintang''sSix Code and All Its Reactionary Laws),21which announced the oldcriminal law was abolished formally. In this specific period, the oldcriminal law was annulled but new one has not been enacted. Thoughsome separate criminal regulations provide the clauses on retroactivity,but in majority of laws such clauses were not referred. These issues haveattracted academic world''s much attention and deep discussion, somearticles on the the subject appeared, such as:
· Chang Hung-wen. Guan yu xing shi fa lü de shi jian xiao liwen ti = Kuan yü hsing shih fa lü te shih chien hsiao li went''i (Issues on the Time Validation of Criminal Law);22· Chu Yü-huang. Wo guo xing fa de su ji li wen ti = Wo kuohsing fa te su chi li wen t''i (Issues on the Retroactivity ofCriminal Law of Our Country);23· Ch''en Li-hao. Dui wo guo xing fa de su ji li wen ti yi wen deshang que = Tui wo kuo hsing fa te su chi li wen t''i i wen teshang ch'' üeh (A Discussion on the Article Titled “Issueson the Retroactivity of Criminal Law of OurCountry”),24etc.
