Regulating Misdemeanors in China

Authors

Enshen Li

First Page

122

Abstract

China has arguably entered an era of misdemeanors. Perceived as offenses punishable by a sentence of three years’ imprisonment or less, misdemeanors have reportedly taken up the majority of criminality in China over the past two decades. This shift in criminal dynamics has precipitated a pressing need for structural changes in the state’s criminal legal system, with calls for reform oriented toward decriminalization as a tailored dispositional channel for petty offenders showing a lower level of criminal culpability. This Article offers a critical scrutiny of China’s prevailing decriminalization initiatives for reducing the penalties and collateral consequences of misdemeanors. Situating these initiatives in the state’s broader criminal justice policy, this Article calls into question their enforceability, effectiveness, and prospects of success. It goes on to advance a different path of decriminalization by recommending a pragmatic misdemeanor system that is truly benevolent and free from stigmas associated with incarceration, conviction, and records. Conceptually predicated on the exclusive ideal of leniency, this new model of decriminalization is bound to break away from the present criminal process and run on its own by revolving around two strands of practice: no detention and no prosecution.

Recommended Citation

Enshen Li, Regulating Misdemeanors in China, 50 Brook. J. Int'l L. 122 (2025).
Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjil/vol50/iss2/2