Ascertaining The Nature Of Intention In The Offence Of Torture

In China, the offence of torture makes up a large portion of the criminal offence committed every year. In judicial practice, it is quite normal to encounter legal puzzles concerning the offence of torture. Under a literal reading of the Criminal Act, the offence of torture is quite similar with the offence of intentional injury. But in judicial practice, it is difficult to distinguish their differences if committed by family member. This paper analyses a real case based on China's relevant legal provisions, trying to figure out a way to solve the legal puzzles in the future. This paper is composed of 5 parts.Part 1 introduces the case.Part 2 introduces the details of the case so that readers can get the knowledge of the parties concerned.Part 3 summarizes the issues of the case based on the details of the case. It discusses whether a act committed in the process of torture which caused the injury or the death of the victim can be regarded as the offence of torture or the offence of intentional injury or the offence of murder.Part 4 explore the issues in the case from academic perspective. It is the core of this paper which reviews China's relevant regulation concerning the offence of intentional injury and the offence of torture, analyzing their differences. It mainly focuses on the subjective culpability of the offender and the causal link between the act committed and the result caused, hoping the provide guidance for the cases in the future.Part 5 is the conclusion of the paper. It concludes that the act committed in the case constitutes the offence of intentional injury, not the offence of torture based the academic analysis there-above.