犯罪范围的扩张与刑罚结构的调整——《刑法修正案(九)》述评

The Expansion of the Scope of Crimes and the Adjustment of the Structure of Punishment A Review of the Ninth Amendment of Criminal Code

《刑法修正案(九)》对我国刑法进行了较大规模的修订,其所呈现的刑法立法的发展方向,主要体现在犯罪范围的扩张和刑罚结构的调整这两个方面。《刑法修正案(九)》增设了20个罪名,并对若干旧罪进行了内容扩充。犯罪范围的扩张方面反映了我国司法权与行政权的消长。随着法治的发展,行政权受到限制,而司法权有所扩大。在这种情况下,我国刑法中的犯罪范围随之扩张。与此同时,为减少死刑创造条件,我国的生刑也逐渐加重。例如《刑法修正案(九)》对情节特别严重的贪污罪、受贿罪设置了终身监禁。通过刑罚结构的调整,使我国刑罚分布更为合理。

The Ninth Amendment of Criminal Code made large- scale revisions of Criminal Code,which shows the developmental directions of criminal legislation in China. On the one hand,the scope of crimes has been expanded. While on the other hand,the structure of punishment has been adjusted. Twenty new crimes were added into the criminal code by the Ninth Amendment and for some old crimes,the definitions were expanded. The expansion of the scope of crimes reveals the ebb and flow of the judicial power and administrative power. With the development of rule of law,administrative power will be restricted while judicial power will be expanded. In this context,the scope of crimes in Chinese Criminal Code will be expanded accordingly. At the same time,in order to create preconditions for the abolition of death penalty,the imprisonment in Criminal Code has been aggravated. For example,the Ninth Amendment provided life imprisonment without parole for those serious crime of embezzlement and crime of bribery. With the adjustment of the structure of punishment,the distribution of punishment in China becomes more reasonable.