Amendment 4 to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (IV) - 2002

(The Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (IV), which was adopted at the 31st session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 28, 2002, is hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of the date of promulgation)

President Jiang Zemin
December 28, 2002

Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (IV)
(Adopted at the 31st session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 28, 2002)

In order to punish those who disrupt the order of socialist market economy and obstruct the administration of social order as well as those state functionaries who commit the crimes of dereliction of duty, and in order to safeguard the smooth implementation of the socialist modernization construction and the personal safety of citizens, the Criminal Law is amended and supplemented as follows:

I. Article 145 of the Criminal Law shall be amended as: “Whoever produces medical apparatuses and instruments or medical hygiene materials that are not up to the national or industrial standards for safeguarding human health or sells such things while clearly knowing the fact, and if it is serious enough to endanger human health, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention and shall also be fined not less than half but not more than two times the sales revenue; if it causes serious harm to human health, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined not less than half but not more than two times the sales revenue; if the consequence is especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined not less than half but not more than two times the sales revenue or be sentenced to confiscation of property.”

II. A new paragraph shall be inserted into Article 152 as Paragraph 2: “Whoever transports overseas solid, liquid or gaseous waste into the territory of China by evading supervision and control of the Customs shall, if the circumstance is serious enough, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the circumstance is serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and shall also be fined.”
The former Paragraph 2 shall be taken as Paragraph 3 and be amended as: “Where an entity commits any crime as mentioned in the preceding two paragraphs, it shall be fined, and the person in-charge and other persons who are held to be directly responsible shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding two paragraphs.”

III. Article 155 of the Criminal Law shall be amended as: “Whoever commits any of the following acts shall be deemed as having committed the crime of smuggling and shall be punished in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Section: (1) directly and illegally purchasing from smugglers articles the import of which is forbidden by the State; or directly and illegally purchasing from smugglers other smuggled goods and articles in relatively large quantities; or (2) transporting, purchasing or selling in inland seas, territorial waters, boundary rivers or boundary lakes articles which are forbidden by the State from import and export; or transporting, purchasing or selling, without legal certificates and in relatively large quantities, goods or articles which are restricted by the State from import and export.”

IV. A new paragraph shall be inserted into Article 244: “Where an employer, in violation of the laws and regulations on labor administration, hires minors under the age of 16 to conduct extremely intensive physical labor, work at high altitudes or work under the well or work under an explosive, flammable, radioactive or poisonous environment, if the circumstance is serious, the persons who are held to be directly responsible shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined; if the circumstance is especially serious, the persons who are held to be directly responsible shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years, and shall also be fined.
In case any employer that commits any act mentioned in the preceding Paragraph and causes an accident still commits any other crime, it shall be punished in accordance with the provisions on combined punishment for two and more crimes.”

V. Paragraph 3 of Article 339 of the Criminal Law shall be amended as: “Whoever, under the pretext of using as raw materials, imports solid, liquid or gaseous waste that cannot be used as raw materials shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 152 of this Law.”

VI. Article 344 of the Criminal Law shall be amended as: “Whoever, in violation of the provisions of the state, illegally fells or destroys precious trees or other plants subject to key protection of the state, or illegally purchases, transports, processes or sells precious trees or other plants subject to key protection of the state or the products processed there from, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also be fined; if the circumstance is serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined.”

VII. Article 345 of the Criminal Law shall be amended as: “Whoever stealthily fells trees or other woods, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the amount involved is huge, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined; if the amount involved is especially huge, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than seven years and shall also be fined.
Whoever, in violation of the provisions of the Forestry Law, arbitrarily fells trees or other woods, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the amount involved is huge, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined.
Whoever illegally purchases or transports trees or woods, which he knows are felled stealthily or arbitrarily, if the circumstance is serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the circumstance is especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined.
Whoever stealthily or arbitrarily fells trees or woods in any nature reserve at the national level shall be given a heavier punishment.”

VIII. Article 399 of the Criminal Law shall be amended as: “Any judicial officer who, by bending the law for selfish ends or twisting the law to serve his friends and relatives, subjects any person he knows to be innocent to investigation for criminal responsibility, intentionally protects any person he knows to be guilty from investigation for criminal responsibility, intentionally runs counter to the facts and law to render judgments that abuse the law in criminal proceedings shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention; if the circumstance is serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years; if the circumstance is especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years.
Whoever, in civil or administrative proceedings, intentionally runs counter to the facts and law to render judgments that abuse the law, if the circumstance is serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention; if the circumstance is especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years.
Whoever, in the enforcement of any judgment or ruling, seriously neglects his duty or abuses his authority and fails to adopt judicial protective measures or perform statutory enforcement duties, or illegally adopts judicial protective measures or mandatory enforcement measures, if any heavy loss thus occurs to the interests of the parties involved or others, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention; if any especially heavy loss thus occurs to the interests of the parties involved or others, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years.
Any judicial officer, who takes any bribe and commits any act mentioned in the preceding three paragraphs, which also constitutes a crime as provided for in Article 385 of this Law, shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions for a heavier punishment.”

IX. This Amendment shall come into force as of the date of promulgation.

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