The normative constituent elements, as the most basic unit of constituent elements, also belong to the important content of constituent elements. However, compared to the theory of constituent elements, which has always been regarded as an important content of crime theory
by criminal law scholars and has invested a lot of effort in research, the research on the normative constituent elements theory has not attracted the attention of the criminal law community in China. In terms of its definition and classification, it basically follows the
research ideas of German and Japanese criminal law theories, There has been no extensive theoretical exploration of it. Due to the value attributes of normative constituent elements, specific evaluations need to be made in conjunction with legal norms, social norms, and other
content. Especially, the social norms that exist in China's real life are clearly different from other countries. Therefore, it is inappropriate to fully interpret the normative constituent elements in China's criminal constitution system based on the criminal legal principles of other countries. Based on this, in order to clarify the value of normative constituent elements in China's criminal constitution system and further explain their corresponding standards in China's judicial application, this article, based on the theoretical research on normative constituent elements in the criminal law theory of the continental legal system, and combined with the actual situation in China, explores the basis, connotation, characteristics, and significance of normative constituent elements Analyze the classification of types and other theoretical issues involved. The full text is mainly divided into the following five parts:
The first chapter is the theoretical tracing of the normative constituent elements. By analyzing the development process of the theory of constitutive elements, the basis for the existence of normative constitutive elements is sought from the historical process of the theory. The theory of constitutive elements was initially developed from the special interrogation procedure in criminal litigation, and later, the constitutive element theory established by Beling believed that constitutive elements were content without value. On this basis, Mayer proposed that the constituent elements are the cognitive basis for determining illegality, and then changed the view that the value of the constituent elements does not involve the existence basis of Mezger. It can be found that, with the help of the theory of positivism of legal philosophy and Neo-Kantianism, the constituent elements are not value neutral, thus confirming the objective basis for the existence of the normative constituent elements. Therefore, the normative constituent elements have experienced the evolution process from being denied to being discovered and widely recognized. In addition, from the perspective of historical development, it can be found that in the process of human historical development, normative constituent elements have long been included in the criminal punishment law by the ruling class of different periods of political power. Even though it belongs to a cultural and social value category, it objectively exists in the criminal law of different social periods. Therefore, the
elements of normative constituent elements belong to objective content.
The second chapter is a review of the connotation of normative constituent elements. List the existing viewpoints on normative constituent elements in mainland legal system criminal law theory and Taiwan region, as well as the existing viewpoints in China's criminal law theory, analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each viewpoint, and provide assistance in defining the necessary connotations of normative constituent elements in China's criminal constitution system in the future. As an important component of the normative constituent elements, if theoretical research is conducted on them, it needs to be based on the theoretical foundation of criminal composition and constituent elements. Therefore, after defining the theoretical basis of theoretical research on normative constituent elements, it is necessary to analyze that in legal norms, the creativity of language will make the legal concept expressed by legal terms present uncertain attributes of connotation and extension, especially the normative constituent elements. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the way in which normative constituent elements are understood. On the basis of elaborating on the connotation of legal standardization, further analyze the significance of standardization in the constituent elements of standardization, in order to distinguish it from other types of constituent elements. The standard for distinguishing between normative constituent elements and descriptive constituent elements is whether there is a value supplement; Compared to unwritten constituent elements, normative constituent elements exist in situations where value judgments are based on other social norms, and there are also two types of normative constituent elements: written and unwritten.
The third chapter elaborates on the characteristics and types of normative constituent elements. After analyzing the connotation of normative constituent elements, it can be found that they embody essential characteristics, including universality, deductive variability, and mutual transformation. Therefore, it can be seen that normative constituent elements exhibit an open structure attribute. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between normative constituent elements, open constituent elements, and blank counts. Although the theory of open constituent elements originated from the three-level criminal constitution system, it also has room for application under the four element system in China. However, it should be noted that it is different from the three-level system. In China's criminal constitution system, the content of open constituent elements is not equivalent to normative constituent elements, but can only be regarded as an effective manifestation of the content of open constituent elements. For blank counts, they belong to the objective constituent elements that are necessary for supplementing the establishment of a crime by referring to other laws and regulations, that is, to complete the specific criminal constitution through supplementation, while normative constituent elements emphasize that judges use other laws and regulations to supplement the value of the element. Blank counts and normative constituent elements are incomplete based on the content of the criminal constituent elements, When there is a need to use other laws and regulations for value evaluation, there may be content overlap. Afterwards, the classification of normative constituent elements should not be limited to a specific classification standard, but should be based on different classification standards to provide assistance in practical application.
The fourth chapter is the analysis of the function of normative elements. Firstly, the theoretical integration function of the normative constituent elements, as the constituent elements of the normative constituent elements, their own open structure negatively affects the attributes of the constituent elements, thereby strengthening the openness of China's criminal constitution system. At the same time, the value evaluation of normative constitutive elements on behavior effectively connects facts and values, thereby proving that China's traditional criminal constitutive system does not belong to the theoretical system that emphasizes facts but neglects norms criticized by others, and there is no so-called entanglement between empirical judgment and normative judgment. The inherent attributes of normative constituent elements also determine the traditional criminal constitution system in China. It belongs to the dynamic process of interpreting criminal constituent elements through substance, possessing the logical thinking of whether objective facts comply with criminal law norms, and then determining whether an act constitutes a crime. Secondly, after determining that the constituent elements have the function of illegal presumption, as the value of the constituent elements needs to be reflected by the normative constituent elements, the evaluation of the value of these elements can determine that the behavior formally conforms to the constituent elements, i.e. violates the behavioral norms, and essentially has the risk of infringing on legal interests, thus ultimately inferring that the behavior has illegality. That is to say, as a component of the constituent elements, the normative constituent elements have the attribute of realizing the presumption of illegality function of the constituent elements. Finally, the normative constituent elements have the function of inferring subjective crimes. As a crime is a violation of the criminal law and has a sense of responsibility in the criminal law norms, the path of determining illegality based on the dualism of worthless behavior can be determined. Combined with the substantive content of responsibility determined by the legal responsibility theory, it can be explained that the criminal act not only violates the behavioral norms but also carries the risk of infringing on legal interests, The perpetrator also bears the responsibility of being punished in the sense of criminal law. The normative constituent elements can serve as the basis for proving the actor's intentional responsibility, further strengthening the judgment conclusion of the actor's intentional responsibility. Therefore, it is necessary for the actor to subjectively recognize the elements of normative constituent elements, and due to the different cognitive abilities of the actor, it may lead to incorrect understanding of the elements of normative constituent elements. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the type of understanding error based on the parallel evaluation criteria of outsiders, whether it is a factual understanding error or a legal understanding error, in order to determine whether the actor has committed a crime and how to sentencing.
The fifth chapter is the analysis of the practical operation of normative elements. Firstly, at the legislative level, although the principle of clarity in criminal law requires that criminal law legislation must have clarity, the inherent requirement of the principle of clarity is relatively clear, that is, to achieve the human rights protection function of criminal law on the basis of ensuring individual case justice, criminal law norms need to have flexible interpretation and application space. At the same time, there is no conflict between the normative constituent elements and the principle of legality of crime and punishment, as traditional cognition suggests. On the contrary, based on the relative clarity reflected in the principle of clarity, the normative constituent elements are inherently consistent with the principle of clarity in criminal law. Secondly, at the legislative level of criminal law, the normative constituent elements should adhere to certain principles, that is, the descriptive constituent elements should be the main element, the normative constituent elements should be supplemented, and the principle of combining facts and norms should be emphasized. In specific measures, the written normative constituent elements should be the main form of regulation, and the unwritten normative constituent elements should be the auxiliary form, Thus, the determination of the criminal composition of specific crimes can strictly adhere to the principle of legality, achieving a perfect integration of individual justice and general justice. At the same time, appropriate addition of illustrative provisions provides assistance in understanding the connotation of normative constituent elements. Finally, at the level of judicial determination, we should reflect on the status quo of normative constituent elements in judicial determination, sort out the applicable ways in current practice, and analyze their shortcomings, so as to provide a way of thinking for rational and correct application of ideas. That is, in judicial practice, we should pay attention to the improvement of judicial interpretation of criminal law, not only following certain formulation principles, but also strictly limiting the scope of the formulation subject, And effectively combine with guiding cases to provide a clearer legal basis for interpreting the elements of normative components. At the same time, it is also necessary to reasonably limit the discretionary power of judges, guide their application of discretionary power with substantive interpretation theory, and use humility as a constraint, so as to accurately identify normative constituent elements in practice.