Of The Protected Legal Interests In Property Crime

Provided in the fifth chapter of the national criminal law, property crime is the main form of crime all over the developed countries. Though penology has been putting a premium on the study of property crime, it is still controversial that what interests the criminal law is set to protect, and comprehensive consensus has not been reached on this issue:In the Chinese traditional theories of criminal law, ownership rights shall certainly be what property crime is to protect, which, with the development of market-oriented economy and complication of property crimes, has been inadaptable to the new climate. Possession theory came into being against ownership rights. Both the theories have respectively their merits and irreplaceable demerits so that various intermediate statements appeared for conciliation. The relationship of criminal law and civil law shall be taken into deliberate consideration to make right choices of which theory to resort to in judicial practices.The thesis is composed of preface, body and conclusion, in which the body is divided into three parts. The preface is written to introduce the intention and meaning of the thesis, research approaches, basic thinking and logical organization. The conclusion of the thesis is the summary of the preface and body.In the first part of the body, practical cases come first for introduction of controversy on the issue of legal interests in property crime and analysis of the essence of this issue. The bone of contention of the theories of ownership and possession is the scope in which property crime is established. Ownership theory is based on stability of ownership to protect the owner’s rights while possession theory is on a basis of occupants’ rights.The second part is going to sort out related theories on legal interests of property home and abroad, reflecting the history and basic connotation of the studies conducted in criminal law circle on property crime. From the horizontal view of foreign theories, legal property theory, economic property theory and the intermediate theory clash with one another in German which is quite similar to Japanese fundamental rights statement, possession statement and the medium statement. Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of different theories can serve as reference for the study of property crime in China.From the vertical view of internal theories, traditional Chinese ownership statement, possession statement, and the medium statement clash with each other. However, comparison of the merits and demerits of these statements can tell us what the essence of legal interests in property crime is and provide beneficial experiences for the study of property crime.On the basis of possession theory, the last part focuses on the comparative study of various theories and advocates resorting to new ownership theory as the theory of property protection. Property offense shall be treated as civil case at first and then dealt with in accordance with criminal law unless property rights go beyond the civil law. The legal interests of property crime are property rights and additional fundamental rights and economical possession rights.Questions exist in the thesis because of my limited capability and I will feel honored for teachers’comments and guidance.