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Zhiyuan, Wang --- "Between “public interest” and “private right”: rethinking criminal illegality cognition theory" [2017] ELECD 1252; in Shi, Jichun (ed), "Renmin Chinese Law Review" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 124

Book Title: Renmin Chinese Law Review

Editor(s): Shi, Jichun

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781788110495

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: Between “public interest” and “private right”: rethinking criminal illegality cognition theory

Author(s): Zhiyuan, Wang

Number of pages: 23

Abstract/Description:

The sticking point of the argument on criminal illegality cognition question is the game between “Public Interest” and “Private Right”. Specifically, the related “Public Interest” here is the group’s security interest; the “Private right” is the individual’s right of “no punishment if one did not know the rule”. Concerning the limited capability to authenticate whether a defendant knew the rule, and according to the “maximizing private right” principle on balancing “Public Interest” and “Private Right”, the resolution of the criminal illegality cognition question should be a trade-off decision on the basis of an equilibrium state placing emphasis on the community security interests. Its specific formulation is plausibly to select whether “not knowing the rule” is avoidable as a key point, and to divide the “not knowing the rule” into punishable and unpunishable conditions. Keywords: Public interest; private right; equilibrium state