An Unexpected Harvest: A Fugitive Who Couldn't Escape the Statute of Limitations
Time:
2020-03-03
Author:
Shi Lu, Chen Zhen
Source:
Guangxi Tongwang Law Firm
Visits:
41
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, local governments have rapidly adopted preventive measures, and have jointly conducted strict epidemic prevention screenings with grassroots mass autonomous organizations. In this process, in addition to residents with suspected symptoms of COVID-19, another unexpected "special group" was found: criminal suspects who were fugitives.
On February 23, 2020, the Nanjing police issued a notice that the suspect in the "28-year-old unsolved murder case at Nanjing Medical University," which has received widespread attention from all sectors of society, was arrested. The case occurred on March 24, 1992, when Lin, a female student of the original Nanjing Medical College in Gulou District, Nanjing, was hit on the head with a blunt object and raped, then pressed into a manhole and died. This heinous murder case has received high attention since its occurrence, and after the efforts of many generations of public security police, it was finally solved 28 years later.
Many fugitives were also caught in this epidemic. Some of these fugitives have been on the run for more than ten or twenty years, but they cannot escape the long arm of the law. But some people have raised this question: if the fugitive has been on the run for too long, will it have exceeded the statute of limitations stipulated by the criminal law? Is it exempt from criminal punishment?
What is the statute of limitations?
The statute of limitations is the effective period for criminal prosecution of criminals as stipulated in the Criminal Law. If the statutory limitation period is exceeded, the judicial organ or the person with the right to sue shall no longer prosecute the criminal; if the prosecution has already been initiated, the case shall be revoked or not prosecuted, or the trial shall be terminated.
The statute of limitations is determined according to the statutory maximum penalty. The statutory maximum penalty refers to the maximum penalty in the sentencing range stipulated in the specific provisions of the Criminal Law for a specific criminal act. The greater the social harm of the crime, the higher the statutory maximum penalty, and the longer the statute of limitations, which is also a reflection of the principle of matching crime, responsibility, and punishment in the statute of limitations.
How long is the statute of limitations?
Article 87 of the Criminal Law stipulates that the limitation period for prosecution shall be:
1. If the maximum penalty is less than 5 years of imprisonment, the statute of limitations is 5 years;
2. If the maximum penalty is 5 years or more but less than 10 years of imprisonment, the statute of limitations is 10 years;
3. If the maximum penalty is 10 years or more of imprisonment, the statute of limitations is 15 years;
4. If the maximum penalty is life imprisonment or death, the statute of limitations is 20 years; if prosecution is deemed necessary after 20 years, it must be submitted to the Supreme People's Procuratorate for approval.
Is it certain that no criminal responsibility needs to be borne after the statute of limitations has expired?
Is it true that fugitives who have exceeded the statute of limitations do not need to bear criminal responsibility? The answer is no. When determining whether the actor needs to bear criminal responsibility after the statute of limitations has been exceeded, it is also necessary to consider the starting point of the statute of limitations, and whether there are reasons for the interruption, extension, and approval of continued prosecution of the statute of limitations.
1. Starting point of the statute of limitations
Article 89 of the Criminal Law stipulates that the limitation period for prosecution shall be calculated from the date of the crime; if the criminal act is continuous or continuing, it shall be calculated from the date of termination of the criminal act; if another crime is committed within the limitation period for prosecution, the limitation period for prosecution of the previous crime shall be calculated from the date of committing the subsequent crime. The calculation of the statute of limitations begins after a single or continuous criminal act is completely over. If the actor commits a new crime within the calculated statute of limitations, the previous statute of limitations period will be interrupted and invalidated, and the statute of limitations will be recalculated from the date of the new crime.
2. Extension of the statute of limitations
The extension of the statute of limitations is divided into the following two circumstances: (1) If a person escapes investigation or trial after the people's procuratorate, public security organ, or state security organ has filed a case for investigation or the people's court has accepted the case, he shall not be subject to the limitation of the prosecution period. (2) If the victim files a complaint within the limitation period for prosecution, and the people's court, the people's procuratorate, or the public security organ should file a case but fails to do so, he shall not be subject to the limitation of the prosecution period.
3. Special approval system for the statute of limitations
Article 87 of the Criminal Law stipulates that if the statutory maximum penalty is life imprisonment or death, twenty years have passed. If prosecution is deemed necessary after twenty years, it must be submitted to the Supreme People's Procuratorate for approval. That is, if a case exceeds the twenty-year statute of limitations, prosecution may continue after being submitted to the Supreme People's Procuratorate for approval.
Conclusion
Some people believe that the statute of limitations has become a "protective talisman" for criminals, and they can sit back and relax as long as they escape the statute of limitations. In fact, the criminal law stipulates the statute of limitations not to condone crime, but to correctly achieve the purpose of punishment.
On the one hand, if a criminal has not committed another crime for a long time after committing a crime, it shows that he has been reformed to a certain extent, and the risk of crime has been reduced. As the impact of the crime gradually disappears and the social order destroyed by the crime is restored, the effect of applying punishment and educating and reforming criminals has actually been achieved. It is not only unnecessary to prosecute them again, but it will also make the already stable social relations become unstable again, and may even trigger or intensify new social conflicts.
On the other hand, the provisions of the statute of limitations system are conducive to judicial organs concentrating their efforts on prosecuting current crimes and improving judicial efficiency.
It can also be concluded from the foregoing analysis that the cases to which the statute of limitations applies must be cases that have not been discovered by the judicial system or have not been accused by anyone. Once the people's procuratorate, public security organ, or state security organ files a case for investigation or the people's court accepts the case, no matter how long the criminal suspect has been on the run, he will be prosecuted after being caught. If it is a heinous crime, prosecution can be continued by submitting it to the Supreme People's Procuratorate for approval. The fugitives who were caught during the epidemic were all under investigation or wanted, so no matter how many years they have been on the run, they cannot escape the long arm of the law.