Research On Complicated Issues Concerning The Crime Of Obstruction Of Official Duties

The crime of hindering official business has been established in the article 227 of China’s Criminal Law,which governs the action of hindering official business,while it is so simple and abstract that there are so many controversial problems in practice.The behavior object of crime of hindering official business are civil servants,representatives of National People’s Congress,staff members of the Red Cross,and goods closely associated with the performance of official business.Civil servants include staff members of public institutions and contract system,who have been authorized legally and perform their duty in terms of reference,and any action of obstructing their official business can be considered as the crime of hindering official business.The action fashion of the crime of hindering official business covers violence and threat.Violence consists of tangibility,coerciveness,and openness.Therefore,violence contains direct violence and indirect violence,while invisible violence is excluded.Threat is mainly expressed as physical threat and threat to reputation to civil servants,as well as threat to goods closely related to official business.Violence in the crime of hindering official business is defined as causing the slight body injury and minor wound to civil servants.Besides,the act of suicide and autotomy to threaten civil servants don’t belong to the crime of hindering official business,and whether besieging and pushing civil servants are considered as the crime of hindering official business should be specifically analyzed to identify.The validity of performance of official business in the identification of the crime of hindering official business should be judged from the entity and procedure,which are both indispensable.The time of performing official business include preparatory phase,execution stage and holding state closely connected with performing official business.The act of obstructing civil servants’ performing official business in the non-working time can’t be considered as the crime of hindering official business,while it should be noticed that hindering official business of policemen in case of emergency is excluded.It is also considered as the crime of hindering official business,if there are some flaws in the law enforcement,and which has nothing to do with,or has little influence on the crime of hindering official business.The crime of hindering official business manifests as subjective intention,which includes actual intent and indirect intent.The content of knowledge is that the actor is well aware that he or she utilizes violence and threat to impede the performance of official business,and civil servants are legally performing official business.The cognition error of facts of the actor can hamper the establishment of the crime of hindering official business,while the cognitional error of value should be considered as the crime of hindering official business.The treatment of implicated offenses of the crime of hindering official business should follow the principle of inflicting a heavier punishment for a serious crime,and the imaginative joiner of offense should be punished as a felony.When the overlap of articles of law comes out,the principle that special law is prior to general law should be adopted.Besides,the relevant regulations of China’s Criminal Law also makes the provision for the issue of combined punishment for several offenses in the crime of hindering official business,and it should be carefully adopted and carried out.