Case law is another academic field of Professor Chen Xingliang in addition to the philosophy of criminal law and normative criminal law. Case law uses the form of case research to describe legal principles, which is an attempt by Professor Chen Xingliang to describe the theory of criminal law.
Case law studies use the method of case study to discuss special issues related to criminal law. There is no formal system of precedent in our country, and as a result, the term precedent is not found in official literature. In recent years, the Supreme People's Court has been implementing the Case Guidance System. The Guiding Cases here are what Professor Chen Xingliang calls precedents, which is a kind of precedent in nature. After years of research, Professor Chen Xingliang completed the book "Case Criminal Law" (Chinese University Press, 2009). The book "Precedent Criminal Law" is based on 82 precedents and 117 thematic categories, forming a total of 63 topics, and interweaving and outlining the basic outlook of precedent criminal law through the legal theory of the reasons for adjudication of typical precedents. The content of this book mainly involves the following three aspects:
one, the general theory of criminal lawIn the past, the research on the basic theory of the general theory of criminal law in China's criminal law scholars mainly focused on the theoretical interpretation of legal provisions, which was too abstract and difficult to find and solve problems from judicial practice. In the study of criminal law precedents, some case studies involve the general principles of criminal law, and Professor Chen Xingliang tries to raise questions from the cases, elaborate them in criminal law theory, and then return the relevant theoretical views to judicial practice to solve difficult problems in individual cases. Such a research method from the individual to the abstract, and then from the abstract to the individual, and the mutual observation between the individual and the abstract, has a positive effect on improving the level of research on the general theory of criminal law in China. The issue of complicity, for example, is a very complex issue of general criminal law. However, China's existing criminal law theories are still limited to the interpretation of criminal law provisions, and the legal provisions are always mechanically applied in judicial practice. In the section of this book, "A Qualitative Study on the Kidnapping of Others for the Purpose of Debt Collection: The Kidnapping Case of Gao Yongming and the Illegal Detention Case of Guo Yonghang", the author makes a theoretical depth on the issue of the succession and competition of co-offenders. Professor Chen Xingliang adopts the theory of joint partial crimes, and believes that in the case of succession and overlap between crimes, joint principal offenders between different crimes can be established. This view dispels the prejudice that is ingrained in judicial practice that joint crimes can only be established within the same crime. In addition, the issues of unfinished crimes, instigators, and the form of the number of crimes have been studied in depth in light of typical cases, thus achieving cutting-edge results in the field of general research on criminal law.
II. Research on Individual Crimes in the Specific Provisions of the Criminal LawIn the past, the study of individual crimes in China's criminal law academic circles had the phenomenon of discussing individual crimes on the basis of individual crimes, which failed to expand the theoretical horizon, so compared with the general theoretical research on criminal law, the study of individual crimes stayed at a low academic level. In judicial practice, there are various difficult problems, and if these problems cannot be solved scientifically, they will affect the judicial level of our country. In the study of criminal law precedents, Professor Chen Xingliang selects those cases that are more controversial and conducts comprehensive research on individual crimes, especially focusing on the analysis of the reasons for adjudication. Through the perspective of individual crimes, the application effect of criminal law theory is amplified. For example, the Xu Ting case is a case that has caused widespread controversy in Chinese society. In the section "Qualitative Research on the Intentional and Malicious Withdrawal of Funds Using ATMs: Xu Ting's Theft Case", the author evaluates the conclusion of Xu Ting's conviction from the perspective of professional and normative analysis of criminal law, and emphasizes the rational attitude towards Xu Ting's case. In this section, Professor Chen Xingliang uses the theory of unjust enrichment in civil law, the crime of embezzlement, the crime of fraud and the crime of theft and other criminal law sub-principles to make a very in-depth analysis of the legal principles of Xu Ting's malicious withdrawal of money by taking advantage of the failure of the ATM, which has reference significance for the handling of similar cases. The theory of the specific provisions of the criminal law is the application of the general theory of criminal law in individual crimes, but it has its theoretical characteristics. In the past, Chinese criminal law scholars had the prejudice of despising the study of individual crimes to a certain extent, which greatly hindered the development of criminal law theory in China. Facts show that only with a well-developed theory of the sub-rules of the criminal law can a mature theory of the general theory of the criminal law be formed, and the development of the theory of the sub-rules of the criminal law is inseparable from the in-depth study of individual crimes.
3. Demonstration function in criminal law researchAt present, China is undergoing the transformation of criminal law knowledge, and one of the important contents is the transformation of the theory of criminal composition. How do China's judicial organs apply the theory of crime composition in their criminal identification activities? What are the problems in the application of the theory of crime composition? The revelation of these problems has important theoretical and practical significance. In the study of case studies in this book, the question of the parties to conviction is addressed. For example, in the section "Qualitative Research on the Refusal to Repay the Loan by Fraudulent Means after a Legal Loan - Wu Xiaoli's Loan Fraud Case", Professor Chen Xingliang analyzed the judge's reasons for not objectively not having loan fraud, but subjectively not having the purpose of illegally possessing the loan, to find the basis for the defendant not to constitute the crime of loan fraud, which leads to a question worth considering: how to define the relationship between the various elements of the crime? Further, what kind of criminal composition system should we adopt? For these major theoretical issues related to the criminal law, this section has made a more in-depth **, especially the comparison of China's current four-element criminal composition system and the three-tier criminological system of the civil law system, emphasizing that the logical relationship between the elements of crime should be progressive. This research conclusion has a demonstration function for improving the theory of crime composition in China.
Professor Chen Xingliang pointed out that the study of precedent criminal law is a new way of thinking in the study of criminal law theory, which should be fully affirmed for improving the level of criminal law theory research in China and for the guiding significance of judicial practice. Professor Chen Xingliang believes that in the process of transformation from textual criminal law to practical criminal law, the study of precedent criminal law is a necessary bridge. In a certain sense, case criminal law is a point of knowledge growth in China's criminal law for a long time to come. The research on criminal law of precedents initiated by Professor Chen Xingliang has expanded the space for the study of criminal law in China, has guiding significance for judicial practice, and truly embodies the practical value of criminal law as a departmental law.
From the philosophy of criminal law, through normative criminal law, to precedent criminal law, the trajectory of Professor Chen Xingliang's academic research on criminal law can be clearly delineated. This trajectory will be further extended, which is the expectation of the times for Professor Chen Xingliang.
One end one.