Author(s)

Hongyuan Pan, Lu Liu

Corresponding Author

Hongyuan Pan

ABSTRACT

The provisions of the current criminal law of China on the system of voluntary surrender embody a high degree of generality. However, there is a lack of theoretical guidance in judicial practice. The circumstances involving voluntary surrender in criminal cases affects the sentencing. This kind of influence often results in the judgement of some cases “can be lighter punishment” to “should be lighter punishment “, which makes the judge's discretionary range larger, and requires higher professional standards for judges. From the perspective of the whole world, the system of voluntary surrender is widely used in the criminal law of all countries in the world. How the voluntary surrender system actually plays a role in judicial practice is a difficult and hot issue. This paper starts from the provisions of Criminal Code of the People’s Republic of China, combines the relevant provisions of judicial interpretation, and analyzes the existing problems and the status quo of the current voluntary surrender system in China, so as to rethink it and put forward the corresponding suggestions for improvement.

KEYWORDS

Voluntary Surrender, Criminal Code, Judicial Interpretation, Lighter Punishment, Criminal Policy