Responsibility for Rape under the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

A subject of the real research is the criminal legislation of People’s Republic of China on responsibility for rape. In work object of the specified crime is investigated, characteristic of the victim and subject of offense is given, the content of signs of the objective and subjective parties of crime reveals. Also characteristic of the qualifying signs is given in article. It is noted that studying of the foreign legislation and practice of its application is important both from theoretical, and from practical the points of view. Experience of foreign legislators allows to consider possible negative consequences when reforming the domestic legislation. The analysis of judicial practice, opinions of the Chinese and domestic scientists, the kriminogenic and qualifying signs allowed to establish strong and weaknesses of the Chinese legislation regarding a regulation of responsibility for rape. The Russian and Chinese criminal legislation has many common features. In many respects it is caused by the long-term socialist direction of development of the Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China. Nevertheless, the Chinese criminal legislation in the studied part has certain differences. So, for example, social, cultural and political and legal features of the Chinese system did not allow it to develop balanced by criminal - a legal mechanism of protection of the person against sexual encroachments irrespective of his floor. Now in criminal law of People’s Republic of China there is no independent responsibility for violent acts of sexual nature with penetration (anal, oral sexual contact) concerning males (in Russia such actions form the corpus delicti provided by Article 132 of the Criminal code). Such actions, despite high public danger, on the current edition of the law can be qualified only as infliction of harm to health or as dissolute actions.