(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-17 07:03

The law should not be weakened by an overt tolerance to crime, says an editorial in Guangzhou Daily. The following is an excerpt:

The Supreme People's Procuratorate recently revised two of its files, which stipulate procuratorates need not raise lawsuits against criminal suspects if any one of five conditions is met.

These include: It was a suspect's first offence and it is a minor one; the suspect was stealing only occasionally to support himself; the suspect had won the understanding of the victim of their minor violation through mediation or compensation; the suspect was a juvenile or senior citizen committing crimes that caused limited harm to others.

Such a revision indicates the kindness of the law's executers and their respect for humanity.

The law has always been bifurcated: It is designed to punish criminals in the hope they will change their lives, while it is also meant to warn people not to do anything evil.

If procurators tolerate those who commit minor violations of the law, they are trying to follow the spirit of the law, and this is commendable.

However, the law might lose its power to deter criminals if the executers are too tolerant.

One of the conditions in the revision is quite questionable: A suspect will not be prosecuted if he steals something he needed to maintain his life.

Such a clause is vague indeed.

There is not a clear standard for "maintaining one's basic life", nor is there any authoritative party capable of setting such a standard. Even if there is, could that be a reason for stealing?

Maybe every suspect has a reason for stealing, but the law should not impose different treatments for the same crime just because the motives were different.

And what is worse is that if people get away with a minor crime under this clause, it is highly possible that others will follow their bad example. In this case, this clause seems to encourage people to break the law rather than abide by it.

Admittedly, it could save a lot of resources and effort of the law executors if the suspects of minor violations are not prosecuted. But this end should not be reached at the price of an overt tolerance of crime.

(China Daily 08/17/2007 page10)