Comparative Legal Analysis of the Institute of Complicity in Crime in China and Russia

The institution of complicity in crime as a whole is one of the most problematic areas for criminal law doctrine and law enforcement practice. The problem of complicity in crime, which acts as one of the fundamental institutions of criminal law in different countries, is given increased attention in the legal science of China and Russia, which is primarily due to the importance of this institution.

In the Chinese criminal law, only five articles of the General part (articles 25-29 of the criminal code of the People’s Republic of China) are devoted to complicity in a crime. In addition, in many articles of the special part of the criminal code of the People’s Republic of China, incitement, aiding and abetting, as well as preparing, creating, directing, or participating in a criminal group, constitute a complete crime. These are such elements of a crime as: incitement to split the state (part 2 of article 103), incitement to overthrow the state power (part 2 of article 105), incitement to carry out terrorist activities (article 120), financial assistance to terrorist activities (article 120.1), assistance to information network criminal activities (article 287.2), preparatory actions for terrorist activities (article 120.2), organization, leadership, participation in a terrorist organization (article 120), organization, leadership and active participation in organizations of a mafia nature (article 294) , etc. In the current Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, seven articles of the General part (articles 32-36, articles 63, 67 of the Criminal Code) are devoted to the institution of complicity. In addition, the group committing a crime is as qualified or very qualified type of specific crimes (for example, article 105, 117, 158, 164 of the Criminal Code), or forms a constitutive characteristic of certain types of crime (for example, article 208, 209, 210 of the Criminal Code, which criminalize the creation of formations, gangs or communities or participate in them).

The paper deals with Chinese and Russian criminal law in part of the normative regulation of the Institute of complicity in a crime, considerable attention is given to the analysis of criminal legislation of China and Russia in the sphere of legal regulation of concepts, forms of participation, types of participation and the principles of bringing them to criminal liability. In the course of the study, the author also attempts to analyze some controversial issues related to the institution of complicity in crime, such as complicity in careless crime, indirect execution, and the legal nature of complicity in crime.

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