Ma, the suspect of Nanjing Medical University rape and murder case which sparked heat discussion 28 years ago, was finally caught!
Buddha said: Bitterness is boundless, repent and the shore is at hand. But some criminal suspects think that confessing would be imprisoned while resisting would be released, including Ma and Miwa.
In March 1998, the 17 - year - old Miwa together with his fellow-villagers Chen and Zhao, bound the victim Pan and stuck Pan’s mouth with transparent scotch tape, dripped much glue in all the edges of the tape for robbery. In June 2018, Miwa, who had been on the run, was finally arrested.
20 years have passed, could the suspect be prosecuted? Of course. The legislation stipulates ‘time limit for prosecution’ so it’s difficult for those crafty criminal suspects to escape scot-free.
The duration of prosecution refers to the effective time limit stipulated by the criminal law for the investigation of criminal responsibility against criminal suspects. When the aforementioned time limit of a crime expired, criminal responsibility shall not be investigated. Let it go? The time limit is long, so don’t worry and look further, please.
The article 87 of the criminal law stipulates that criminals shall not be prosecuted if the following periods have elapsed:
(1) 5 years when the maximum punishment prescribed is fixed-term imprisonment of less than 5 years;
(2) 10 years when the maximum punishment prescribed is fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but less than 10 years;
(3) 15 years when the maximum punishment prescribed is fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years; and
(4) 20 years when the maximum punishment prescribed is life imprisonment or death penalty. If after 20 years it is considered necessary to prosecute a crime, the matter shall be submitted to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate for examination and approval.
Too complicated? Read the following example, please~
The Wolffy(cartoon figure) stole the pleasant sheep’s(cartoon figure) new Huawei mobile phone worth RMB 5000. According to the criminal law, whoever steals a relatively large amount of public or private property......shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, criminal detention or public surveillance. So, the time limit of larceny committed by Wolffy is 5 years because its maximum punishment prescribed is 3 years.
Wolffy called a group of relatives to the sheep village to pick a quarrel and make a trouble, resulting in serious disorder in the sheep village, whose punishment shall be fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance according to the criminal law. Both the terms ‘above’ and ‘below’ in criminal law contain the base quota, so the duration of prosecution is 10 years if the maximum punishment prescribed is 5 years.
As we all know, the criminal suspect is usually cunning and the case is complex. Where there is a norm, there is an exception. Thus, let’s talk about the exceptions to the duration of prosecution.
The article 89 of the criminal law stipulates the suspension of the duration of prosecution.
‘The duration of prosecution shall be counted from the date the crime is committed; if the criminal act is of a lasting or successive nature, it shall be counted from the date the criminal act is terminated. If further crime is committed during the duration of prosecution, the duration of prosecution of the old crime shall be counted from the date the new crime is committed.’
Little tradition, looking at an example~
On August 1, 2014, Wolffy felt its poverty and came up with an idea of getting fees for offering gambling condition. It called 8 friends to gather two tables of mahjong, and got RMB 7000 that day.
Wolffy gathered people to gamble every day, and got enough money for its family in a short time with RMB 7000 per day until August 10, 2014, after which it asked another not to gamble again.
On June 1, 2018, Wolffy deliberately injured lazy sheep(cartoon figure) in the street and caused the latter minor injures.
On March 7, 2020, Wolffy was arrested.
Q: Shall Wolffy be prosecuted for gambling?
Yes!
In this case, the maximum punishment prescribed of the gambling crime committed by Wolffy is 3 years, so the duration of prosecution is 5 years. As its crowd-gathering gambling act is lasting, the duration of prosecution of gambling crime shall be 5 years from the date of the end of its act, i.e., from August 10, 2014 to August 11, 2019. Obviously, Wolffy was within the duration of prosecution of gambling when he committed the crime of intentional injury. Therefore, the duration of prosecution of gambling was recalculated for 5 yeas from June 1, 2018. It is only 2020, so it’s not easy for Wolffy to escape scot-free.
The duration of prosecution could not only be suspended but also be extended.
The article 88 of the criminal law stipulates that,
‘No limitation on the period for prosecution shall apply to a criminal who escapes from investigation or trial after a People’s Procuratorate, public police or national security organ files the case or a People’s Court accepts the case. No limitation on the period for prosecution shall apply to a case which should have been but is not filed by a People’s Court, People’s Procuratorate or public police after the victim brings a charge within the duration of prosecution.
The Miwa case is such situation. After Miwa case happened, Miwa knew that the police had filed an investigation, but still fled and deliberately change his name when replacing his second generation of identity card, obviously having the intention of evading investigation, which fully meet the standard of the above extension of the duration of prosecution. So, Miwa shall accept the trial of law even if twenty years and three months or even thirty tears have passed.
In the face of reporters, the 37-year-old Miwa said he lived in fear and regret, and hid himself from place to place in the past 20 years. The glue case in 1998, not only left an indelible scar on the victim Pan, but also sealed the life of 17-year-old Miwa for decades which should have been bright.
As professor Xiang Luo once commented, ‘Justice has long arms.’ Justice has two aspects of meaning here, of which one is the internal law - conscience because the torture of conscience is the most painful torture for a criminal, and the other is external law - legislation. As for the criminal, it is better to surrender in time to strive for leniency rather than struggle after committing a crime, making both the internal and external law be restored.
