"Cultural relics carrying splendid civilization, inheriting history and culture, and maintaining the national spirit are the precious heritage left to us by our ancestors and the profound nourishment for strengthening the construction of socialist spiritual civilization." The protection of cultural relics is in the contemporary era, and the benefits are in the thousands of autumns. "Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the protection of cultural relics and cultural inheritance, and has made important instructions on many occasions at home and abroad.
Recently, the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage issued the "Notice on Studying and Implementing the Spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's Important Speech and Comprehensively Strengthening the Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage", requiring conscientious study and implementation of the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech and doing a good job in the protection of historical and cultural heritage at present and in the coming period. The Notice requires continuous improvement of the level of heritage value mining, interpretation, dissemination and promotion. It is necessary to strengthen the study of the value of historical and cultural heritage, promote the study and interpretation of Chinese civilization, Chinese culture and Chinese spirit, deeply excavate the rich connotations contained in historical and cultural heritage, systematically explain the new meaning of the times of Chinese culture, let cultural relics speak and history speak, and better play the advantages of historical and cultural heritage in educating people with history, educating people with culture, and cultivating socialist core values. It is necessary to promote the effective transformation of resource endowments into communication momentum, take multiple measures to do a good job in interpretation and promotion, make good use of archaeological and historical research results, systematically display the philosophical ideas, humanistic spirit, value concepts, and moral norms behind historical relics, accurately reveal the cultural spirit, cultural mindset, and cultural self-confidence of the Chinese nation contained in them, provide diversified cultural content supply, and further enrich the people's spiritual world and enhance the national spiritual strength. It is necessary to actively expand the platform for foreign exchanges of cultural relics, promote Chinese culture to go out, enhance the international dissemination ability of Chinese culture through multiple channels, tell the story of Chinese history to the whole world, expound the spirit of the Chinese nation, build the image of a civilized country, comprehensively and vividly display the brilliant achievements of Chinese civilization and its major contributions to human civilization, expand the international influence of Chinese culture, enhance exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, create a good atmosphere of international cooperation, and carry forward the cultural spirit that transcends time and space, transcends the country, is full of eternal charm, and has contemporary value. The "Circular" emphasizes the study, publicity and implementation, and promotes the inheritance and development of China's excellent traditional culture. Widely publicize the new progress and achievements in the protection of historical and cultural heritage in the new era, enhance the awareness of cultural relics protection in the whole society, gather positive energy and create a good atmosphere.
So, what legal knowledge do you know about the protection of cultural relics? Article 326 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates: Whoever, for the purpose of making profits, resells cultural relics prohibited by the State and if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also be fined; Where a unit commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it shall be fined, and the persons who are directly in charge and other persons who are directly responsible for the crime shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
At the same time, in order to punish the crime of cultural relics and protect cultural relics in accordance with the law, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Obstructing the Management of Cultural Relics, which came into effect on January 1, 2016, clearly pointed out that the "cultural relics prohibited by the state" stipulated in Article 151 of the Criminal Law are in accordance with the "Cultural Relics Prohibited by the State" in accordance with the "Interpretation of the State prohibiting exports" in accordance with the "Criminal Relics Prohibited by the State" in article 151 of the Criminal Law. The scope of "cultural relics prohibited by the state from exporting" stipulated in the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics is determined.
Whoever smuggles second-class cultural relics whose export is prohibited by the State shall, in accordance with the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 151 of the Criminal Law, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined for the crime of smuggling cultural relics; who smuggles first-class cultural relics whose export is prohibited by the State shall be deemed to be "particularly serious circumstances" as provided for in the second paragraph of Criminal Law Article 151; and smuggling of third-level cultural relics prohibited by the State shall be deemed to be "less serious circumstances" as provided for in the second paragraph of Criminal Law article 151.
Whoever smuggles cultural relics whose export is prohibited by the State and it is impossible to determine the grade of cultural relics, or whose conviction and sentencing in accordance with the grade of cultural relics is obviously too light or excessively heavy, may be convicted and sentenced according to the value of the smuggled cultural relics. Where the value of smuggled cultural relics is more than 200,000 yuan but less than 1 million yuan, it shall be punished with fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years and a fine in accordance with the provisions of the second paragraph of criminal law article 151; where the value of cultural relics is more than 1 million yuan, it shall be found to be "particularly serious" as provided for in the second paragraph of criminal law article 151; where the value of cultural relics is more than 50,000 yuan and less than 200,000 yuan, it shall be found to be "less serious circumstances" as provided for in the second paragraph of criminal law article 151.
Article 2: Where general cultural relics, third-level cultural relics, or cultural relics of the second level or above are stolen, they shall be found to be "relatively large amounts," "huge amounts," and "particularly large amounts" as provided for in Criminal Law article 264.
Where the level of cultural relics cannot be determined for theft of cultural relics, or where the conviction and sentencing according to the level of cultural relics is obviously too light or excessive, the conviction and sentencing shall be based on the value of the stolen cultural relics.
Article 3: The ontology of national key cultural relics protection units and provincial-level cultural relics protection units shall be identified as "cultural relics identified as national key cultural relics protection units and provincial-level cultural relics protection units" as provided for in the first paragraph of criminal law article 324.
Where the intentional destruction of precious cultural relics protected by the State or cultural relics identified as a national key cultural relics protection unit or a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit has any of the following circumstances, it shall be found to be "serious circumstances" as provided for in the first paragraph of Criminal Law article 324:
(1) Causing damage to five or more grade III cultural relics;
(2) causing damage to cultural relics of level two or above;
(3) Causing serious damage or loss of the body of a national key cultural relics protection unit or a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit;
(4) Repeatedly destroying or destroying the bodies of multiple national key cultural relics protection units or provincial-level cultural relics protection units;
(5) Other situations where the circumstances are serious.
Whoever commits the acts provided for in the preceding paragraph and refuses to carry out the administrative decision or order made by the competent state administrative department to stop infringing on cultural relics shall be given a heavier punishment as appropriate.
Article 4: The ontology of immovable cultural relics such as core scenic spots in scenic spots and historical sites, ancient tombs, ancient buildings, grotto temples, stone carvings, murals, important historical sites of modern and modern times, and representative buildings that have not been identified as national key cultural relics protection units or provincial-level cultural relics protection units shall be identified as "scenic spots and monuments protected by the State" as provided for in the second paragraph of article 324 of the Criminal Law.
Intentional damage to scenic spots and monuments protected by the State in any of the following circumstances shall be found to be "serious circumstances" as provided for in the second paragraph of Criminal Law article 324:
(1) Causing serious damage or loss of places of interest or monument;
(2) Repeatedly destroying or destroying multiple places of scenic spot or monument;
(3) Other situations where the circumstances are serious.
Whoever commits the acts provided for in the preceding paragraph and refuses to carry out the administrative decision or order made by the competent state administrative department to stop infringing on cultural relics shall be given a heavier punishment as appropriate.
Whoever intentionally damages cultural relics within a scenic spot that has been identified as a national key cultural relics protection unit or a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit shall be convicted and sentenced in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph of Criminal Law article 324 and article 3 of this Interpretation.
Article 5: Where the negligent damage of precious cultural relics protected by the State or cultural relics designated as a national key cultural relics protection unit or a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit has one of the circumstances provided for in items 1 to 3 of the second paragraph of article 3 of this Interpretation, it shall be found to have "caused serious consequences" as provided for in paragraph 3 of article 324 of the Criminal Law.
Article 6: Whoever sells or acquires, transports or stores "cultural relics prohibited by the State" as stipulated in the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics for sale shall be deemed to be "reselling cultural relics prohibited by the State" as provided for in Article 326 of the Criminal Law.
Where the resale of cultural relics prohibited by the State from operating has any of the following circumstances, it shall be found to be a "serious circumstance" as provided for in Article 326 of the Criminal Law:
(1) Reselling third-class cultural relics;
(2) The transaction amount is more than 50,000 yuan;
(3) Other situations where the circumstances are serious.
Where the conduct provided for in the preceding paragraph is carried out in any of the following circumstances, it shall be found to be "particularly serious circumstances" as provided for in Criminal Law article 326:
(1) Reselling cultural relics of level two or above;
(2) Reselling five or more third-class cultural relics;
(3) The transaction amount is more than 250,000 yuan;
(4) Other situations where the circumstances are particularly serious.
Article 7: Where state-owned museums, libraries, and other State-owned units, in violation of laws and regulations on the protection of cultural relics, sell or privately give to non-state-owned units or individuals the collection of cultural relics under state protection that they collect or manage, they shall be investigated for criminal liability for the crime of illegally selling or privately donating cultural relics in accordance with the provisions of Article 327 of the Criminal Law.
Article 8: "Ancient cultural sites and ancient tombs" provided for in the first paragraph of Article 328 of the Criminal Law includes underwater ancient cultural sites and ancient tombs. "Ancient cultural sites and ancient tombs" are not limited to ancient cultural sites and tombs that are declared as immovable cultural relics.
Where the carrying out of excavations has harmed the historical, artistic, or scientific value of ancient cultural sites or tombs, it shall be found that the crime of excavating ancient cultural sites or ancient tombs has been completed.
Whoever uses destructive means to steal other immovable cultural relics such as ancient cultural sites, ancient buildings other than ancient tombs, grotto temples, stone carvings, murals, important historical sites of modern and modern times, and representative buildings, shall be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of theft in accordance with the provisions of Article 264 of the Criminal Law.
Article 9: Whoever, knowingly conceals, transfers, acquires, processes, sells on behalf of, or disguises or conceals cultural relics or conceals them by other means, knowing that they are cultural relics or above obtained by crimes such as stealing cultural relics, excavating ancient cultural sites, or ancient tombs, shall be pursued for criminal responsibility for concealing or concealing the proceeds of crime in accordance with the provisions of criminal law article 312.
Whoever commits the acts provided for in the preceding paragraph and commits conspiracy in advance shall be punished as a joint crime.
Article 10: Where a functionary of a state organ is seriously irresponsible, causing damage or loss of precious cultural relics, and has any of the following circumstances, it shall be found to be "serious consequences" as provided for in criminal law article 419:
(1) Causing damage or loss of cultural relics of the second level or above or five or more third-level cultural relics;
(2) Causing serious damage or loss of the body of a national key cultural relics protection unit or a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit;
(3) Other situations with serious consequences.
Article 11: Where a unit commits acts such as smuggling cultural relics or reselling cultural relics, which constitutes a crime, the directly responsible managers and other directly responsible personnel shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the standards for the conviction and sentencing of the corresponding natural persons provided for in this Interpretation, and the unit shall be fined.
Where companies, enterprises, public institutions, organs, groups, and other such units commit acts of stealing cultural relics, intentionally damaging cultural relics or scenic spots, negligently damaging cultural relics, or excavating ancient cultural sites or ancient tombs, the organizers, planners, and implementers shall be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with the corresponding conviction and sentencing standards provided for in this Interpretation.
Article 12: Whoever commits smuggling, theft, resale, etc. against immovable cultural relics as a whole shall be convicted and sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Articles 1, 2 and 6 of this Interpretation on the basis of the grade of the immovable cultural relics to which they belong:
(1) For immovable cultural relics that have not yet been identified as cultural relics protection units, the standards for the conviction and sentencing of general cultural relics shall apply;
(2) Municipal and county-level cultural relics protection units shall apply the standards for conviction and sentencing of third-level cultural relics;
(3) National key cultural relics protection units and provincial-level cultural relics protection units shall apply the standards for conviction and sentencing of cultural relics of level two or above.
Whoever commits smuggling, theft, resale, etc. against architectural components, murals, sculptures, stone carvings, etc. in immovable cultural relics shall be convicted and sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Articles 1, 2 and 6 of this Interpretation on the basis of the level or value of the cultural relics such as architectural components, murals, sculptures, and stone carvings themselves. The grade of immovable cultural relics belonging to architectural components, murals, sculptures, stone carvings, etc., shall be considered as sentencing circumstances.
Article 13: Where cases involve cultural relics of different grades, the sentence shall be imposed in accordance with the sentencing range of high-level cultural relics; where there are multiple cultural relics of the same level, five cultural relics of the same level shall be regarded as one cultural relic of the same level, except where the value is obviously not equal.
Article 14: Where a person is convicted and sentenced on the basis of the value of cultural relics, the value of the cultural relics is determined on the basis of the valid price certificate of the cultural relics involved in the case; if there is no valid price certificate, or if it is determined that it is obviously unreasonable on the basis of the price certificate, it is determined on the basis of the amount of stolen goods sold, or in conjunction with the appraisal opinions and reports provided for in Article 15 of this Interpretation.
Article 15: Where the administrative department for cultural relics has already made a determination of the cultural relics involved in the case and their grade before the perpetrator commits the relevant act, it may directly make a determination of the facts of the relevant case.
Where it is difficult to determine specialized issues such as the appraisal and value determination of cultural relics involved in the case, the judicial appraisal institution shall issue an appraisal opinion, or the institution designated by the administrative department for cultural relics under the State Council shall issue a report. Among them, for the value of cultural relics, the relevant price certification body can also make price certification and issue a report.
Article 16: Where the conduct provided for in Articles 1, 2, 6 to 9 of this Interpretation has reached the standard of criminal responsibility that should be pursued, but the perpetrator is a first-time offender, actively returns or assists in the recovery of cultural relics, does not cause damage to the cultural relics, and truly shows remorse, it may be found that the circumstances of the crime are minor, and the circumstances of the crime are not prosecuted or exempted from criminal punishment.
Where the conduct provided for in Articles 3 to 5 of this Interpretation has reached the standard that criminal responsibility should be pursued, but the perpetrator is a first-time offender, actively compensates for losses, and truly shows remorse, it may be found that the circumstances of the crime are minor, and the circumstances of the crime are not prosecuted or exempted from criminal punishment.
Article 17: Whoever smuggles, steals, destroys, resells, excavates or illegally transfers fossils of ancient vertebrates or ancient human beings of scientific value shall be convicted and sentenced in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law and this Interpretation.
Article 18: This Interpretation takes effect on January 1, 2016.
| Source: Delinghap
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