Event Series for the 20th Anniversary of Macau University of Science and Technology: Shizi Gate Law Forum “Criminal Legislation and Social Governance” Successfully Held

In the afternoon of November 20, 2020, the fifty-first session of the Shizi Gate Law Forum (the first session of the academic year 2020-2021) was held online. It was also part of the event series for the 20th anniversary of the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST). The theme of this session was “Criminal Legislation and Social Governance”.

The Law Faculty was honored to invite Associate Professor Jiang Shuo of Peking University School of Law, Professor Tong Dehua, Vice Dean of School of Criminal Justice of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Professor He Rongong, Vice Dean of Wuhan University School of Law, Professor Shi Jinghai of Law School of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, and Professor Wang Chong of Jilin University School of Law as our guests. Assistant Professor Xue Wenchao of the MUST Law Faculty served as the moderator, and Assistant Professors, Dai Mengliang and Wang Jia, together with more than 160 students attended this forum.

The main topic of this forum, “Criminal Legislation and Social Governance”, is an important issue in the current rule of law effort in China. In the forum, Professor Shi Jinghai advocated thinking about criminal legislation from a historical perspective, and correctly grasping the characteristics of Chinese criminal legislation in the relationship between internationalization and localization. Professor Tong Huahua argued that the development of law should be considered from the principle of constructivism in the generation of liberal order, and the legislation on cybercrime, which focuses on the expansion of the crime circle, should consider the socialization of governance in the pattern of “common construction, common governance and common use”. Professor Wang Chong advocated that criminal legislation should not be overused from the perspective of criminal law modesty and human rights protection, and should be based on the principle of harm, centered around human beings and to forge the greatest social consensus. Professor He Rongong proposed that criminal policy is the last resort of social policy, and that good social policy is the best criminal policy. From the perspective of social governance, the “leading” role of criminal law among society should not be overstated. He also pointed out that criminalization should adhere to the principles of proportionality, liability, and infringement of legal interests, and take into account the relationship between criminal law and constitutional law, civil law, administrative law, and criminal procedure, so as to avoid the over-extension of criminal legislation. Associate Professor Jiang Shuo stated that China’s understanding of crime is obviously different from that of the West, and it is not appropriate to over-expand the circle of crime. He also warned about the negative “label effect” that could be brought on society by the criminalization of misdemeanors.

The forum was rich in content and diversified in viewpoints, bringing the latest academic topics in domestic criminal law to the faculty and students and opening up their theoretical horizons. In the final interactive session, the distinguished guests answered the questions raised by Wang Wenyao, Fang Haocheng and Bai Jiayu, the second-year undergraduate students of the Law Faculty. The whole forum lasted for three hours.

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