Investigation of the Legislation of Crimes Concerning Endangering Drug Safety in China

Abstract

The protection and improvement of drug safety is a major and realistic issue of concern to Chinese society and the public at present. Thus, the crimes concerning endangering drug safety are one of the key areas of Chinese criminal law. The Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China has been regulating crimes concerning endangering drug safety since 1979, and special activities have been carried out in practice to combat crimes concerning endangering drug safety. Although the criminal legislation on crimes concerning endangering drug safety changes frequently in China, its spirit of legislation and the developmental sequence is clear. Firstly, the main legislative form is the criminal code, supported by administrative laws and regulations. Secondly, the scope of criminal law shows a trend of gradual expansion, which is mainly reflected in the expansion of the object of crime and the scope of regulatory act. Thirdly, the time-point of intervention has been brought forward by the criminal law. Fourthly, the punishment tends to be more severe. In criminal legislation of China, the specific content of the crimes concerning endangering drug safety is mainly concentrated on the core crimes related to the act of producing or selling of counterfeit and substandard drugs. This article carried out a detailed analysis of the constituent elements and the controversial issues about these core crimes such as the crime of producing, selling or providing counterfeit drugs, the crime of producing, selling or providing substandard drugs, the crime of disrupting drug administration, the crime of neglecting duties in drug regulation, and other relevant crimes.