On the afternoon of March 9, 2024, Professor Chen Hongbing, a doctoral supervisor from the Law School of Southeast University, was invited by the Criminal Law Committee of Hangzhou Lawyers' Association to give a lecture on How to Find Argumentative Points for Criminal Lawyers. This lecture is one of the activities of the first plenary session of the Criminal Law Committee in 2024, and nearly 100 members of the Criminal Law Committee and non-members of the lawyers attended this lecture salon, which was presided over by Pan Keben, deputy director of the Criminal Law Committeee.
Combining with cases, Prof. Chen Hongbing elaborated the principles of interpretation and controversial issues of criminal law sub-rule from the aspects of purposefulness, equilibrium, coordination and systemic, respectively. Prof. Chen pointed out that when handling cases, criminal lawyers should be good at applying the principles and methods of interpreting criminal law sub-headings, accurately distinguishing between preparatory acts and acts of execution, and discovering the problems of the case, so as to find out the points of defense of the case.
Regarding the purpose, Prof. Chen believes that the purpose of criminal law is to protect legal benefits, the essence of crime is to infringe upon legal benefits, and each criminal law code of the criminal law is designed to protect certain legal benefits, and the constituent elements of all crimes should be interpreted with the guidance of protecting legal benefits. If there is a different understanding of the protection of legal interests, the interpretation of the constituent elements will be different, and the conclusion of the specific case will be different. Professor Chen emphasized that criminal lawyers should correctly understand and grasp the legal interests of protection of specific crimes, and at the same time interpret the constituent elements with the guidance of the legal interests of protection.
Regarding balance, Prof. Chen believes that balance mainly refers to the balance between crime and punishment, and of course it can also be said to include part of the problem of balance between crime and crime. The reference to criminalization as a means of punishment has to be understood correctly. First of all, it is certain that a crime is an act suitable for punishment. Secondly, the interpretation of constituent elements should be subject to statutory penalties, and minor wrongdoings should not be interpreted as very heavy constituent elements. Once again, the integration of natural and legal offenses in China should be taken into account, and even in a single crime, it should be interpreted according to the different circumstances of natural and legal offenses. Finally, a distinction should be made between actual and dangerous crimes.
With regard to harmonization, Professor Chen believes that when studying any one of the crimes in the sub-headings of the criminal law, it is necessary to look for at least 30 or so relevant articles, and not to study one article and look at only one article. Criminal law itself is an internally coordinated system, and if it is not coordinated, it will inevitably lead to unfair treatment of criminal law. The more relevant laws you read, the more you will be able to take care of the relationship of the relevant laws so that there is no conflict or contradiction between the relevant laws.
With regard to systematicity, Professor Chen emphasized that when analyzing a specific crime using the general theory as a guide, the constituent elements of the specific crime, the grounds for violation of the law and the elements of responsibility should be interpreted in accordance with the criminal theory system of the general theory. In other words, it is necessary to look at what the objective constituent elements are, then determine whether there is a reason for violation of the law, then look at the elements of responsibility, and finally consider the issues of attempt, complicity, and the number of offenses.
In the course of the lecture, Prof. Chen repeatedly emphasized that the iron rule of interpreting the sub-rule of criminal law is the principle of appropriateness of crime and punishment and the law of crime and punishment. The principle of appropriateness of crime and punishment should always be carried out in every conclusion of the interpretation of the sub-rule of criminal law. The act of committing a crime must be an act of imminent danger of infringing upon the interests of the law. When handling cases, criminal lawyers should accurately understand and fully utilize the principle of appropriateness of crime and punishment to accurately analyze and judge the conduct of the person involved in the case.
In this lecture, Prof. Chen cited a large number of practical cases, which are relevant to the actual handling of criminal lawyers, and greatly benefited the attorneys in the audience. His unique viewpoints and insights on the theory of criminal law sub-rule brought inspiration and new perspectives to every lawyer present. His humor, passionate style of speech, stirred up warm applause many times.