Four decades of criminal law research: paths of development and knowledge transformation

• Author: Four decades of criminal law research: paths of development and knowledge transformation
• Pages: 538-558

FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA

VOL. 13 DECEMBER 2018 NO. 4

DOI 10.3868/s050-007-018-0037-9

FOCUS

CHINESE LEGAL SCIENCE IN THE 40 YEARS OF REFORM AND OPENING UP

FOUR DECADES OF CRIMINAL LAW RESEARCH: PATHS OF DEVELOPMENT AND

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFORMATION

ZHAO Bingzhi*, YUAN Bin**

Abstract The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up.

In these past four decades, research in Chinese criminal law has recovered, stabilized,

and developed, before it reached a stage of prosperity. The approach to research in

criminal law has shifted from being one-dimensional to being comprehensive. The law

now focuses on diverse issues, as opposed to singular ones. The discourse has shifted

from an issue-led approach to a more systemic one. The tools used to interpret the law

have shifted from substantive ones to a combination of substance and formality. As a

result, the number of studies has increased, and in-depth research has grown over time.

In the future, research in criminal law will become more specialized and diversified.

Researchers will promote consciousness further, broaden their horizons, and promote

fruitful research in criminal law.

Keywords reform and opening up, research in criminal law, historical path, knowledge

transformation, direction of development

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 539

I. FOUR DECADES OF CRIMINAL LAW RESEARCH: PATHS OF DEVELOPMENT............. 541

A. The Main Paths of Development....................................................................... 541

B. The Historical Paths of Development................................................................ 443

II. FOUR DECADES OF CRIMINAL LAW RESEARCH: KNOWLEDGE

TRANSFORMATION.................................................................................................. 545

A. A Paradigm Shift: From One-Dimension to Comprehensive Research............. 546

B. A Transformation of the Focus of Research: From Single-Issue to Diversified

* (赵秉志) Ph.D. in Criminal Law, School of Law, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; Professor,

College for Criminal Law Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. Contact:

zhaobingzhi2005@bnu.edu.cn

** (袁彬) Ph.D. in Criminal Law, School of Criminal Law, China University of Political Science and Law,

Beijing, China; Professor, College for Criminal Law Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875,

China. Contact: yuanbinf@163.com

2018] FOUR DECADES OF CRIMINAL LAW RESEARCH 539

Studies............................................................................................................... 548

C. A Transformation from Problem-Oriented to System-Oriented

Discourse in Research ......................................................................................550

D. A Transformation of Research Tools: From Focusing on Substance to Focusing

on Both Form and Substance............................................................................ 554

III. THE BASIC DIRECTION OF FUTURE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINAL

LAW IN CHINA ....................................................................................................... 555

A. The Direction of Specialized Development..................................................... 555

B. Diversified Directions of Development........................................................... 556

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................ 557

INTRODUCTION

China’s national policy on reform and opening up was established in December 1978

in the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party

of China. The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the implementation of this policy.

Over the past 40 years, Chinese society has undergone unprecedented transformation and

rapid development. Research in criminal law has improved significantly. This

improvement manifested in two ways. First, the literature on criminal law expanded.

According to data extracted from the website of China Academic Journals, 89,730 articles

were published in China between 1979 and 2018. If we include articles published in

newspapers as well as degree theses, the number goes up to 147,243. The annual number

of published articles has remained above 5,000 since 2010.1 The number of published

books on criminal law is growing. A search inquiry on the website of National Library of

China presents 2,666 books.2 Second, research in criminal law has gradually become

more focused and has gained depth. The keywords that appear at high frequency among

academic journals on criminal law include “conduct” (6,413 articles), “the death penalty”

(2,553 articles), “interpretations of criminal law” (2,328 articles), “criminal law

principles” (1,865), “internet-related offenses” (1,746 articles), “criminal liability” (1,602

articles), “criminal subjects” (1,248 articles), “corrupt-related offenses” (1,224 articles),

“the intention to commit crimes” (1,111 articles), and “intellectual property offenses”

(1,074 articles).3 As pointed out by a scholar, “criminal law research has always been a

popular discipline. After a short-term decline in the amount of research done in criminal

law (whilst research the rise of civil and commercial law rose to popularity with the boom

1 All data inquiries conducted on the website of the China Academic Journals for the purpose of this

article ended on May 31, 2018.

2 No comprehensive data inquiry has been conducted to find out the number of academic works on

criminal law. Data obtained from the China National Library were relevant to books on criminal law.

3 In addition to these high frequency words, the constitution of crime (904 articles), terrorism-related

offenses (766), negligence (769), attempt (729), organized crimes (707), parties to crime (704), and financial

offenses (670) were all popular topics of research in criminal law.