The Imbalance between “Conviction and Decriminalization” and “Collateral Consequences” in the Governance of Light Offenses and Its Resolution: The Case of Drunk Driving

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jel.202614425

Author(s)

Yating Chen*

Affiliation(s)

Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

China has entered the era of light offenses, and drunk driving has become a typical case through which to observe light-offense governance. Two problems stand out today. At the front end, conviction has become rigid: judicial practice clings to the blood alcohol reading as the sole criterion, and the substantive review that an abstract-danger offense requires is left idle, so improper convictions follow. At the back end, collateral consequences are out of balance: they last for life and spill over to family members, spreading criminal stigma and institutional disenfranchisement and departing from the principle that punishment should fit the crime and the offender’s culpability. The way out lies in an integrated criminal-law approach. At the front end, substantive construction of the elements of the offense, together with the proviso to Article 13 and the exemption clause in Article 37 of the Criminal Law, should be used to screen out the right cases. The application of conditional non-prosecution can be introduced into community service, and the connection between criminal treatment and administrative punishment can be maintained. The scope of collateral consequences should be narrowed, the lifetime occupational ban no longer applies in a package, and misdemeanor records are processed through elimination or storage mechanisms to provide a channel for offenders to return to society. Together these form a coordinated governance path that balances an active criminal law with the principle of restraint and builds a modern “strict but not severe” system of light-offense governance.

Keywords

Light-Offense Governance; Drunk Driving; Substantive Decriminalization; Collateral Consequences

References

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