PROBLEMS OF CRIMINALIZING ACTIONS IN CHINESE CRIMINAL LAW

China today witnesses a trend for the emergence of different social risks conditioned by a fast rate of economic growth and a high level of differentiation in social relations. In order to cope with a great number of such risks, China has to constantly improve criminal legislation, among other things, by criminalizing certain publically dangerous actions. The goal of the authors is to determine the borders between criminalization and decriminalization in Chinese criminal legislation, which should correspond to the general level of social development and criminal situation in the country. Taking into consideration the actual necessity to develop in China a system of social management, Amendments No 9 to the Criminal Code of the People's Republic of China incorporate new offences, widen the list of elements for many existing offences and abolish some norms on exemption from punishment, thus, the legislation has been considerably criminalized. Previous eight Amendments to the Criminal Code of the People's Republic of China added in total 35 new offences and widened the list of elements of crime for 54 offences, while Amendments No 9 add 20 new offences and widen the list of elements for 14 offences. The authors believe that the trend for criminalization in Chinese criminal legislation will continue, it will be eventually replaced by a trend for maintaining legal stability and gradual decriminalization when China reaches a certain level of social development (when it becomes "a rich, democratic, harmonious, beautiful socialist state").