NCJ Number
147107
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Delinquency and Deviant Social Behaviour Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1994) Pages: 54-68
Date Published
1994
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper presents some comparative analyses regarding the characteristics of public security offenses (PSO's) in China and discusses the impact of these "administrative offenses" on China's crime rates.
Abstract
Each year of the 1980's, except for 1989, the recorded average annual number of criminal incidents in China was well below 100 per 100,000 population. This article contends that the low rates were partly due to the division in Chinese law between criminal offenses and the quasi-criminal PSO's. The discussion is based on official crime data released by the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Supreme People's Court, and the Ministry of Justice, mostly during the later 1980's. A PSO refers to an administrative offense that is quasi-criminal and has three characteristics in Chinese law. First, administrative offenses are defined in administrative law, not criminal offense in criminal law. Second, unlike those under the jurisdiction of other administrative agencies, this kind of administrative offense is handled by the criminal justice system. Third, unlike other noncriminal offenses handled by the police, most PSO's are similar to criminal offenses in their nature and constitutive elements. These factors help to explain why, in the Chinese context, a sensible international comparison of recorded general crime rates must include comparison of criminal and quasi-criminal (or administrative criminal) laws and legal practice. 10 tables and 30 references