Should the penalties for the crime of buying and selling women and children be increased?

Legal Commissioner Team: Strategic Cooperation Team of Qingdao Chengyang Notary Office, Friendship Cooperation Team of Law School of Shandong University of Political Science and Law, Legal Department of Qingdao Used Car Trading Market Industry Association

Author: Zhai Xiaomei, Master of Criminal Procedure Law, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Member of all-China Lawyers Association, Member of China Law Society, Member of Lawyers Industry Development Committee, Mediator of Mediation Center of China Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

Recently, the question of whether to increase the penalties for the crime of buying abducted women and children has aroused heated discussion in academic circles.

Scholars who support the increase of statutory punishment believe that human dignity is above all animals and plants, that the current judicial practice is not enough to punish crimes, that the starting point is low, and that punishment can only be imposed by combining several crimes;

Scholars who oppose the increase of statutory sentences believe that perpetrators may be punished for several crimes at the same time, and cannot only look at the sentencing of a certain paragraph, and the establishment of "capital punishment" may make it difficult for judicial practice to land in the society of acquaintances.

I. The sentencing of abduction and bribery is very different

The penalty for the crime of trafficking in women and children is 5 years, with the maximum penalty being the death penalty, and the maximum penalty for bribing women and children who have been trafficked in women and children is 3 years

• Point 1: Bribery is a preparation for other criminal acts, and rape, illegal detention and other criminal acts committed after bribing women can be punished for several crimes, and there is still a possibility of death.
• Point 2: The essence of abduction and trafficking of women and children is a violation of the core values of the human person, and the essence is the same and the punishment of setting a disparity is almost indulgent in the act of buying.

II. In judicial practice, the proportion of several crimes and punishments is not large

The current legislation attempts to systematically pursue responsibility for several crimes such as rape and illegal detention after the purchase of women, but in practice it is relatively more difficult to hold the perpetrators accountable for rape and detention; if rape, detention and other acts occur within marriage, it is almost impossible to pursue responsibility.

Third, law enforcement is not strict

No matter how the current law stipulates and how the law is amended, lax law enforcement is an inevitable problem. Raising the statutory penalties for buying and selling and enforcing strict law enforcement would reduce the buying and selling of women, but did law enforcement have the incentive to enforce the law? Is the state treasury willing to pay for law enforcement?

Professor Wang Xizin said: "Anyone, born as a human being, should enjoy the right not to be enslaved, which is the core of human dignity and freedom, and should become the core value of the social community." ”

bibliography:

[1] The discussion of the criminal responsibility of bribing women | a constitutional moment that reaffirms the rights of the human person. Academic Frontiers of Law

[2] Yang Fan, dean of the Department of Law and associate professor of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Beijing Forestry University, weChat circle of friends essay