Study On Judicial Expansion Of Illegal Hunting Crime

Behind the controversy caused by series of judgments of illegal hunting crime is the problem of judicial expansion of this crime.Judicial expansion refers to the fact that the application of criminal law regulates some behaviors that do not completely conform to the provisions or the criminal punishment is excessive,and actually expands the scope of application of the provisions of criminal law.There are two standards for judging judicial expansion:one is the legislative standard,which determines the scope of regulation according to the words used in the provisions of criminal law and its normative purpose;The second is the judicial standard,mainly manifested as the social effect of justice,whether it is accepted by the ordinary people.The judicial expansion of illegal hunting crime is mainly manifested in the following five aspects:first,the inappropriate extension of "hunting",which identifies all the behaviors that harm the growth and reproduction of wild animals as hunting;Second,the behavior object is enlarged,the eggs of wild animals are equal to wild animals,hunting common animals still have the risk of being convicted;Third,the default conviction "clear knowledge",does not pay attention to the doer’s subjective fault,but almost acquiesces the doer’s subjective knowing;The fourth is the criminalization of administrative violations,which qualitatively expands the scope of prohibition through normative documents,quantitatively expands the scope of "serious circumstances",and reduces the incrimination standard of this crime;The fifth is the enlargement of the penalty,mainly for the improper application of fine punishment and the wide application of severe punishment.The judicial interpretation reduces the original constituent elements of this crime and reduces the conviction requirements for causing actual damage,which leads to the expanded application of this crime.On a deeper level,the reason for the alienation of judicial interpretations is that the judicial organs and their staff have deviations in their values when handling such cases,which mainly including the overemphasis of eco-centrism,the strong instrumental nature of criminal law,the inaccurate understanding of legal interests and the unreasonable reaction to crime.Ignoring the humanistic thought contained in the criminal law,failing to balance the relationship between the protection of legal interests and the protection of human rights,the nature of illegal acts is artificially elevated.In view of this,the following five ways can be adopted to restrict the judicial expansion of illegal hunting crime:First,accurately define the"hunting" behavior,determine its connotation and limit its extension,and list the circumstances that are not treated as hunting.The second one is to standardize the identification of behavior objects,distinguish the eggs of wild animals from the wild animals themselves,and strictly limit the behavior objects to wild animals of significant ecological,scientific,or social values.Third,the elements and connotation of "clear knowledge"should be clearly defined in judicial interpretation,and attention should be paid to them in procedures,so as to strengthen the interpretation and reasoning of relevant laws and guide people to know and abide by the law.Fourth,restrict the criminalization of behavior qualitatively and quantitatively and set up punishment level reasonably.Fifth,standardizing the application of fine,limiting the application of discretionary heavier punishment,and investigating the criminal responsibility of the defendant according to law.