Substantive Chinese Criminal Law

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sources and Development of Chinese Criminal Law

The Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China was first enacted in 1979 as part of the post-Mao legal reconstruction and was comprehensively revised by the 1997 Criminal Code, which remains the primary source of substantive criminal law. The 1997 Code expanded the 1979 Code from 192 to 452 articles, abolished the analogy system, codified the principle of legality, and systematically organised criminal offences in a General Part (Articles 1-101) and a Special Part (Articles 102-452). The Code has been amended eleven times, with the most significant amendments being the Eighth Amendment (2011), which reduced the scope of the death penalty and introduced community correction; the Ninth Amendment (2015), which further reduced capital offences and expanded terrorism and corruption provisions; and the Eleventh Amendment (2020), which lowered the age of criminal responsibility. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) exercises legislative authority over criminal amendments, typically issuing a Criminal Law Amendment every few years.

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Substantive Chinese Criminal Law

Sources and Development of Chinese Criminal Law