Criminal Law amendment increases punishment of bribery
The Amendment (XII) to the Criminal Law officially came into effect on Friday, clearly listing serious bribery situations, adjusting and increasing the penalties for corporate bribery crimes, and making corresponding adjustments to the penalties for other bribery crimes, said officials from the National People’s Congress Law Committee, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security on Friday.
There is currently a situation in practice where punishment for bribery is often relatively weak, and there is still a certain gap between the investigation and crackdown on bribery crimes and the expectations of the people. It is necessary to further play the important role of the Criminal Law in the integrated promotion of a system mechanism of not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt, officials said during the press conference held on Friday.
This amendment clearly lists serious bribery situations, explicitly stipulating that the seven types of bribery behaviors should be punished severely. The spirit of severe punishment is not only reflected in the sentencing aspect but also in the investigation and enforcement process.
The Amendment (XII) to the Criminal Law targets the key points of power-money exchange, and interest chains, which is of great significance for eradicating the soil and conditions for corruption, said Ma Yan, a member of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People’s Court.
Government departments will fully utilize big data in handling bribery cases, in addition to analyzing and judging the characteristics and underlying management loopholes of common and frequent bribery activities, timely put forward targeted prosecutorial suggestions or special reports to promote social governance.
In addition, the Amendment fully embodies the spirit of equal protection for private enterprises and sets higher requirements for law enforcement activities of public security organs.