Laws of the People's Republic of China

DECISION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL
PEOPLE'S CONGRESS REGARDING THE SEVERE
PUNISHMENT OF CRIMINALS WHO SERIOUSLY
SABOTAGE THE ECONOMY

(Adopted at the 22nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the
Fifth National People's Congress on March 8, 1982)

SUBJECT: CRIMINAL LAW

ISSUING-DEPT: STANDING COMMITTEE OF PEOPLE'S CONGRESS

ISSUE-DATE: 03/08/1982

IMPLEMENT-DATE: 04/01/1982

LENGTH: 2190 words

TEXT:

In view of the fact that currently criminal activities in the economic field, such as smuggling, arbitrage and speculation for exorbitant profits, theft of public property, theft and sale of precious cultural relics and extortion and acceptance of bribes are rampant, seriously jeopardizing the cause of the country's socialist construction and the interests of the people, and in order to deal firm blows to such criminal activities and severely punish the criminals and those state functionaries who have participated in, shielded or connived at these criminal activities, it is necessary to appropriately supplement or amend some relevant provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. It is hereby decided as follows:

(A) The following supplementations and amendments shall be made with regard to the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law:

(1) With respect to the crimes of smuggling, arbitrage and speculation for exorbitant profits mentioned in Article 118 of the Criminal Law, of theft mentioned in Article 152, of sale of narcotics mentioned in Article 171, and of secretly transporting precious cultural relics for export mentioned in Article 173, penalties are respectively supplemented or revised as follows: When the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years, life imprisonment or death, and he may in addition be sentenced to confiscation of property.

State functionaries who take advantage of their office to commit the crimes listed in the preceding paragraph, when the circumstances are especially serious, shall be given a heavier punishment in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph. State functionaries referred to in this Decision include personnel working in state organs of power at all levels, administrative organs at all levels, judicial organs at all levels, the armed forces, state enterprises and state institutional organizations, and other personnel of all types who are engaged in public service according to law.

(2) With respect to the crime of acceptance of bribes mentioned in Paragraphs 1 and 2, Article 185 of the Criminal law, the following revisions are made: Any state functionary who extorts or accepts bribes shall be punished as for the crime of embezzlement mentioned in Article 155 of the Criminal Law; when the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death.

(3) State functionaries, regardless of whether or not they are judicial functionaries, who take advantage of their office to protect or shelter criminals as provided in Items (1) and (2) of this Article, concealing and covering up the facts of their crimes, shall all be punished in accordance with Article 188 of the Criminal law for malpractices from selfish motives.

Relatives of state functionaries, or state functionaries who have already left office, who commit the above crimes shall be punished in accordance with paragraph 2, Article 162 of the Criminal law for the crime of protecting criminals.

Whoever destroys criminal evidence or fabricates false evidecne in favour of the above-mentioned criminals shall be punished in accordance with Article 148 of the Criminal Law for the crime of giving false evidence.

Whoever carries on obstructive actions, threats or retaliatory attacks against law enforcement personnel and persons who expose, accuse and give testimony shall be punished in accordance with Article 157 of the Criminal Law for the crime of obstructing the administation of public order or Article 146 for the crime of retaliation or frame-ups.

Whoever conspires with the criminals listed in Items (1) and (2) of this Article, before committing the crimes listed in the preceding four paragraphs, shall be punished as for a joint crime.

(4) In case where state functionaries with the responsibility for investigation do not handle criminals listed in Items (1), (2) and (3) of this Article according to law; or if they do not perform the investigatory obligations stipulated by law because they are thwarted; and in cases where personnel directly in charge who know the circumstances of criminals and of the facts of crimes, or the personnel with sole knowledge of these circumstances, do not report the cases according to law and do not give testimony truthfully, they shall be punished respectively according to the crimes of dereliction of duty specified in Articles 187, 188 and 190 of the Criminal Law.

(B) This Decision shall be implemented as of April 1, 1982.

In cases of crimes committed before the date of implementation of this Decision, if the offender voluntarily surrenders before May 1, 1982 or, if having already been arrested, he truthfully confesses all his crimes before May 1, 1982, and in addition brings truthful accusations with respect to the facts of crimes of other criminals, he shall be dealt with in accordance with the relevant provisions of law before the implementation of this Decision. In cases where the offender, before May 1, 1982, continues to conceal the crimes he has committed, refusing to surrender voluntarily, or refuses to confess all his crimes, and also does not bring accusations with respect to the crimes of other criminals, he shall be taken as continuing to commit crimes and shall be dealt with in accordance with this Decision.

(C) This Decision has a major bearing on the interests of the state and the entire people. From the date of promulgation of this Decision, all state organs, the armed forces, enterprises, institutional organizations, rural people's communes and production brigades, Party organizations, people's organizations, schools, newspapers, broadcasting stations and other mass medial units shall have the duty to adopt every effective method to publicize and explain it repeatedly in a way understandable to the entire force of working personnel, army officers and men, staff and workers, students and urban and rural residents, so as to make this Decision known to everyone.

Appendix: Relevant Articles of the Criminal Law

[Article 118] Whoever makes a regular business of smuggling or speculation, smuggles or speculates in huge amounts or is the ringleader of a group that sumuggles or speculates shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than ten years, and may concurrently be sentenced to confiscation of property.

[Article 152] A habitual thief or habitual swindler or anyone who steals, swindles or forcibly seizes a huge amount of public or private property, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and may concurrently be sentenced to confiscation of property.

[Article 171] Whoever manufactures, sells or transports opium, heroin, morphine or other narcotic drugs shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention, and may concurrently be sentenced to a fine.

Whoever manufactures, sells or transports the narcotic drugs mentioned in the preceding paragraph continually or in large quantities shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years, and may concurrently be sentenced to confiscation of property.

[Article 173] Whoever, in violation of the laws and regulations on protection of cultural relics, secretly transports precious cultural relics for export shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than ten years, and may concurrently be sentenced to a fine; if the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and may concurrently be sentenced to confiscation of property.

[Artile 185] Any state functionary who takes advantage of his office to accept bribes shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention. The funds or articles that he received as bribes shall be confiscated, and public funds or articles shall be recovered.

Whoever commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph and causes the interests of the state or citizens to suffer serious losses shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years.

Whoever offers or introduces a bribe to a state functionary shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention.

[Article 155] Any state functionary who takes advantage of his office to embezzle public property shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention; if the amount involved is huge and the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death.

For the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the offender shall be sentenced concurrently to confiscation of property or ordered to make restitution or compensation.

If any person entrusted by state organs, enterprises, institutions or people's organizations to perform public duties commits the crime mentioned in the first paragraph of this Article, he shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the two preceding paragraphs.

[Article 188] Any judicial functionary who engages in malpractices for the benefit of his friends and subjects to prosecution a person he clearly knows to be innocent and intentionally protects from prosecution a person he clearly knows to be guilty, or intentionally twists the law, confounding right and wrong, when rendering judgments or orders, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or deprivation of political rights; if the circumstances are particularly serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years.

[Article 162] Whoever harbours counterrevolutionaries or gives false evidence to protect them shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance; if the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not ess than three years and not more than ten years.

Whoever harbours other criminals or gives false evidence to protect them shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years, criminal detention or public surveillance; if the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than seven years.

Conspirators to a crime mentioned in the two preceding paragraphs shall be punished as for a joint crime.

[Article 148] If, during an investigation or trial, any witness, expert witness, recorder or interpreter intentionally gives false evidence or makes a false expert evaluation, record or translation concerning circumstances that bear an important relation to a case, in order to frame another person or conceal criminal evidence, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than seven years.

[Article 157] Whoever by means of force or threat obstructs a state functionary from carrying out his functions according to law or refuses to carry out legally effective judgments or orders of people's courts shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, a fine or deprivation of political rights.

[Article 146] Any state functionary who abuses his power, using his public office for private gain, in order to retaliate against or frame complainants, petitioners or critics shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than seven years.

[Article 187] Any state functionary who, because of neglect of duty, causes public property or the interests of the state and the people to suffer heavy losses shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention.

[Article 190] Any judicial functionary who releases a criminal without authorization shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years. not more than five years or criminal detention; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years.