Preventive criminalization: legislation and issues in China

ABSTRACT Preventive criminalization is one of the most noteworthy legislative phenomena in China, exhibiting structural differences from the basic principles of criminalization and the traditional risk prevention function of criminal law, focusing mainly on the areas of counterterrorism and cybercrime. The advancement of the criminal law defense against new types of crime is necessary, but there is also an implied risk of expanding and blurring the boundaries of criminal law intervention. The trend towards preventive criminalization is inevitable in our country, guided by a positive view of criminal law. The addition of preventive criminal law provisions in future legislation should reasonably balance the relationship between social protection and civil rights, avoiding excessive intervention of criminal law on the grounds of prevention.