Analysis Of The Criminal Subject Status Of One-man Company

In 2005, the corporate law of China has been amended and allows a single personor a single corporate establish a limited liability company. But at the time the criminallaw was amended in 1997, the one-man company was not officially recognized in theold corporate law. Therefore before 2005, the one-man company cannot fit into thecategory of unit crime. Given the lack of direct criminal law or judicial interpretation,now the question of whether the one-man company can constitute the unit crimebecomes a controversial problem. Based on the existent law and the theories oncriminal law, I will prove that the one-man company can fit into the category of unitcrime and analyze the criminal subject status of different types of one-man company.The main text can be divided into five parts, of which the first one focuses on theintroduction of the one-man company. This part briefly describes the definition of theone-man company and the evolution of the law, and mentions the profound meaningof acknowledging this type of company. And through the analysis of the criminal law,the criminal subject status of one-man company is not excluded.The second part focuses on theoretical analysis of the criminal subject status ofone-man company. Three aspects are discussed, including the principle of a legallyprescribed punishment for a specified crime, methods of criminal law interpretationand modest of criminal law. Based on the analysis, the criminal subject status ofone-man company should be approved, and the punishment for one-man companythat committed crime should be equal to that for traditional companies.The third part furthers with discussing the criminal subject status of one-mancompany. By comparing"disregard of corporate personality"in corporate law with "deny the criminal subject status of company"in criminal law, a new hypothetic has been proposed——the prerequisite of the criminal subject status of one-man company includes the personality on the corporate law and the personality on the criminal law.The fourth part exemplifies the exceptions of the criminal subject status of one-man company. Since the prerequisite of the criminal subject status of one-man company includes two layers of personality, lacking of either one will deny the criminal subject status of one-man company.The last part analyzes the criminal subject status of one-man company which has been legally established after the new corporate law. Whether one-man company has independent corporate will and independent corporate interests has been argued. The positive answer to the question has demonstrated that the one-man company has both the personality on the corporate law and the personality on the criminal law, therefore it has the criminal subject status.