中国追诉时效制度的背景——从古代中国法的观点

The Study of Background of Statute of Limitation in China——From the Viewpoint of Imperial China

追诉时效制度是指犯罪发生后,经过法定期限不提起公诉,求刑权即归于消灭的制度。在中国,这一制度通常被认为是一个"舶来品"。然而,古代世界各国均普遍存在追诉时效制度。所以要解密"为什么在古代中国没有出现"。虽然古代中国没有明确的追诉时效制度,但已显示出相似的思想。对古代中国没有出现追诉时效制度的原因进行了分析,并指出现行中国的追诉时效制度实际继承了古代中国法的思想。

The public right of action shall be dropped after the expiration of a certain period from the date of the commission of the offense without taking any act of institution of prosecution, which is called ' the statute of limitation'.In general, Chinese people think that this system is ' foreign-made articles'.However, the limitation system generally existed in the ancient countries.In other words,'why Imperial China did not have this' is the problem that we must elucidate.Imperial China did not surely have the limitation system, but similar concept already existed.This report will analyze the cause that ancient China did not have the statute of limitation, and it will make clear that the current limitation system succeeds to the concept of Imperial China.