Translation of an ancient Chinese manual on juriprudence, including details of many trials and judgments for crimes both high and petty.

This volume brings together experts of ancient Near Eastern, Greek, Roman, and Chinese law to explore understandings of crime and mechanisms of criminal enforcement in a variety of cultures in the period from the 3rd Millennium BCE to 800 CE. The topics addressed--ranging from sex crimes in ancient Rome to policing in Ptolemaic Egypt to punishment in ancient China--are aimed at highlighting key features of ancient approaches to crime. Can we discern broad similarities in the legal systems of multiple ancient societies that set them apart from modern legal systems? Conversely, are there some aspects of criminal enforcement that varied widely across ancient societies, helping to define a culturally distinctive approach to these offenses? The book considers how 'crime' was understood and categorized at different times and in different places, how different societies understood the causes and nature of criminal offending, what informal and formal mechanisms and institutions were used to enforce criminal laws and norms, punishment practices in different societies, and how crime, criminals, policing, and punishment were presented and represented for the 'public' in the various forms of media available at different times. The authors explore these questions through a cultural historical lens, examining literary as well as legal texts, and examine how law and legal institutions affected the lives of both marginalized and elite members of ancient societies.

Reprint of the fourth edition, which contains an additional text attributed to Voltaire. Originally published anonymously in 1764, Dei Delitti e Delle Pene was the first systematic study of the principles of crime and punishment. Infused with the spirit of the Enlightenment, its advocacy of crime prevention and the abolition of torture and capital punishment marked a significant advance in criminological thought, which had changed little since the Middle Ages. It had a profound influence on the development of criminal law in Europe and the United States.

Across eighteenth-century China a wide range of common people forged government documents or pretended to be officials or other agents of the state. This examination of case records and law codes traces the legal meanings and social and political contexts of small-time swindles that were punished as grave political transgressions.

The history of punishing criminals is a long and gruesome one. In 620 BC, a Greek named Draco wrote a legal code that punished almost every crime with death—except murder! For that, criminals were exiled. Odd facts about crime and punishment like this abound in history. Readers encounter many places and periods, from ancient China to the Victorian era, to learn all about the terrible, gross, and strange ways crimes were punished in the past. A colorful layout full of amusing and informative illustrations reinforce the main content, providing historical context and detail that will keep readers turning pages.

Suitable for junior high and high school age, a survey of generalizations and examples of legal systems, though Drapkin (emeritus, criminology, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) often spends more time on historical and social background than on his subject. Covers Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hebrews, Persia, China, Greece, and Rome. "Others" include Islam, Ethiopia, Basques, Japan, and Oceania. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, University of Cologne (Institute of East Asian Studies Seminar / Modern China Studies), course: The political System of VR China, language: English, abstract: “Kill fewer, kill carefully.” According to the wishes of the Chinese Politburo, these two political guidelines are to be implemented in the future in order to simultaneously maintain harmony and order in China. As with any passed laws – independent of country or government –, two questions arise here: 1. What did the prior evolution look like and can obligatory reform prevail? 2. Which competences are the judiciary’s responsibility and is there a guarantee that secure monitoring of law enforcement will be carried out? I will pursue these questions in this paper. For this purpose, I will start by addressing the term “death penalty”, the legal provisions in China as well as its evolution with a particular focus on the “Strike Hard” Campaign and the decentralization process of the courts, which substantially contributed to the need for reform. Furthermore, I will analyze the reformation of the Supreme People’s Court and assess the current state of the political guidelines being strived for and their actual executive implementation. The conclusion should allow for an assessment of the reformation measures, if they have indeed been successful, if there is a need to catch up or if they failed entirely.

From China's most influential foreign policy thinker, a vision for a "Beijing Consensus" for international relations The rise of China could be the most important political development of the twenty-first century. What will China look like in the future? What should it look like? And what will China's rise mean for the rest of world? This book, written by China's most influential foreign policy thinker, sets out a vision for the coming decades from China's point of view. In the West, Yan Xuetong is often regarded as a hawkish policy advisor and enemy of liberal internationalists. But a very different picture emerges from this book, as Yan examines the lessons of ancient Chinese political thought for the future of China and the development of a "Beijing consensus" in international relations. Yan, it becomes clear, is neither a communist who believes that economic might is the key to national power, nor a neoconservative who believes that China should rely on military might to get its way. Rather, Yan argues, political leadership is the key to national power, and morality is an essential part of political leadership. Economic and military might are important components of national power, but they are secondary to political leaders who act in accordance with moral norms, and the same holds true in determining the hierarchy of the global order. Providing new insights into the thinking of one of China's leading foreign policy figures, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in China's rise or in international relations.