Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 1, 2024

The Systematization and Implementation of the Relationship between Crime and Punishment

(Abstract)

Peng Wenhua

The scope, content, and elements involved in the relationship between crime and punishment need to be based on systematic thinking and grasped through the concept and framework of networks and “groups.” The relationship between crime and punishment is not only a dialectical one in which each interacts with and restricts the other, but also an integrated and systematic relationship between criminal law, criminal law norms, and administrative law norms related to the application of crime and punishment. The institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of the construction of the rule of law point the way to the systematization of the relationship between crime and punishment in China in the new era. In terms of value goals, this relationship should be shifted from emphasizing the maintenance of order to paying equal attention to the maintenance of order and the protection of human rights; from emphasizing the justice of outcomes to paying equal attention to the justice of outcomes and the justice of distribution; from multipolarization to integration; and from extensive to granular. The systematization of this relationship needs to be based on the systematization of the system and structure of crime and punishment, and at the same time should ensure the logical optimization and the activation of value evaluation. It should be realized through the construction of a dual-track system, the integration of the crime and punishment system, and the internal and external coordination of the relationship between crime and punishment.