Article 264 of the Criminal Code

【 Theft 】

Whoever steals public or private property if the amount involved is relatively large, or commits repeated theft, housebreaking theft, theft with murder weapon or pickpocketing, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall also, or shall only, be fined; If the amount involved is huge, or if there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined; If the amount involved is especially huge or if there are other especially serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined or have property confiscated.

[Pre-amendment provision]

Article 264 Whoever steals public or private property if the amount involved is relatively large or if the theft is repeated shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall also, or shall only, be fined; If the amount involved is huge, or if there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined; If the amount involved is especially huge or if there are other especially serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and also to a fine or confiscation of property; Under any of the following circumstances, he shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death and also to confiscation of property:

(1) stealing a financial institution and the amount is especially huge;

(2) Stealing precious cultural relics under serious circumstances.

【 Amendment note 】

Article 39 of the Amendment to the Criminal Law (VIII) makes the following amendments to the original provisions: First, it deletes the provision that the crime of theft can be sentenced to death; The second is to increase the household theft, theft with weapons, pickpocketing three kinds of acts directly constitute theft provisions.

【 Legislation. Key notes 】

"Pickpocketing" means stealing property carried by others in public places or on public transport. Pickpocketing is often carried out by means of picking pockets and cutting bags, which seriously infringes on citizens' property and personal safety, disturbs the order of public places, and is highly technical, and most of them are repeat offenders who are repeatedly caught and released, and should be severely cracked down on.

【 Judicial Interpretation I 】

Article 1 Theft of public or private property valued at 1,000 to 3,000 yuan or more, 30,000 to 100,000 yuan or 300,000 to 500,000 yuan shall be deemed as "a relatively large amount", "a huge amount" or "a particularly huge amount" as provided for in Article 264 of the Criminal Law.

The higher people's courts and people's procuratorates of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may, in the light of the economic development of their respective regions and taking into account the social security situation, determine the specific standards for the amount to be implemented in their respective regions within the range specified in the preceding paragraph and submit them to the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate for approval.

If the place of theft cannot be verified, whether the amount of theft reaches "a large amount", "a huge amount" or "a particularly huge amount" shall be determined according to the relevant amount standards determined by the high people's court and the people's procuratorate of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where the case is accepted.

Theft of drugs and other contraband, which should be dealt with as a crime of theft, shall be sentenced according to the seriousness of the circumstances.

Article 2 In the case of theft of public or private property under any of the following circumstances, the standard of "relatively large amount" may be determined in accordance with 50% of the standard provided for in the preceding article:

(1) Having received criminal punishment for theft;

(2) having received administrative punishment for theft within one year;

(3) organizing and controlling theft by minors;

(4) stealing in the place of occurrence during emergencies such as natural disasters, accident disasters, social security incidents;

(5) stealing property from persons with disabilities, widows and orphans, or persons who have lost the ability to work;

(6) stealing property of a patient or his relatives or friends in a hospital;

(7) stealing money and goods for disaster relief, emergency rescue, flood control, special care, poverty alleviation, immigration, and relief;

(8) serious consequences are caused by theft.

Article 3 Theft of more than three times within two years, shall be identified as "multiple theft".

Those who illegally enter a residence for another person's family life and are relatively isolated from the outside world shall be identified as "household theft".

Theft with firearms, explosives, controlled knives and other instruments prohibited by the state, or theft with other instruments sufficient to endanger the personal safety of others for the purpose of committing a crime, shall be identified as "theft with weapons".

Those who steal property carried by others in public places or on public transport shall be identified as "pickpocketing".

Article 4 The amount of theft shall be determined in accordance with the following methods:

(1) If the stolen property has a valid price certificate, it shall be determined according to the valid price certificate; Where there is no valid proof of price, or the amount stolen is determined to be obviously unreasonable on the basis of the proof of price, an appraisal institution shall be entrusted with the appraisal in accordance with the relevant provisions;

(2) In case of theft of a foreign currency, it shall be converted into renminbi according to the central parity rate of renminbi against that currency published by the China Foreign Exchange Trade System or an institution authorized by the People's Bank of China at the time of the theft; Foreign currencies whose central parity rates have not been published by the China Foreign Exchange Trade System or the institutions authorized by the People's Bank of China shall be converted into renminbi according to the central parity rates of Renminbi against that currency in domestic banks at the time of theft, or the central parity rates of renminbi against the dollar in domestic banks and the international foreign exchange market shall be calculated against the central parity rates of Renminbi against the dollar;

(3) Theft of electricity, gas, water and other property, if the amount of theft can be verified, the amount of theft shall be calculated according to the verified amount; If the amount of theft cannot be verified, the amount of theft shall be calculated from the average monthly consumption of the six months before the theft minus the average monthly consumption of the meter after the theft; If the normal use is less than six months before the theft, the amount of theft shall be calculated according to the average monthly consumption during the normal use period minus the average monthly consumption shown by the meter after the theft;

(4) Knowingly using telecommunications equipment or facilities that steal another person's communication line or copy another person's telecommunication code number, the amount of the theft shall be determined in accordance with the fees paid by a lawful user for it; If it cannot be directly confirmed, the amount of theft shall be calculated from the monthly payment amount of a legitimate user after the telecommunication equipment or facility is stolen or copied minus the monthly average telephone charges of the six months prior to the stolen connection or copy; Where a lawful user has used telecommunication equipment or facilities for less than six months, the amount stolen shall be calculated according to the average monthly telephone charges actually used;

(5) Where a person illegally accesses another person's communication line or copies another person's telecommunication code number for sale, the amount of theft shall be determined according to the amount of stolen goods sold.

If the loss caused by the theft to the owner is greater than the amount stolen, the amount of loss may be considered as the circumstances of sentencing.

Article 5 In case of theft of valuable payment vouchers, valuable securities or valuable certificates, the amount of theft shall be determined in accordance with the following methods:

(1) In the case of theft of valuable payment certificates, securities or certificates that are anonymous and not reported for loss, the amount of theft shall be calculated together with the face amount and the fruits, bonuses or prizes that are available at the time of theft;

(2) In case of theft of named negotiable payment vouchers, negotiable securities or negotiable instruments, and the amount of theft has already been cashed, the amount shall be calculated according to the value of the cashed part of the property; If it is not cashed, but the owner cannot avoid the loss by reporting the loss, making up the claim, making up the procedures, etc., the amount of theft shall be calculated according to the actual loss caused to the owner.

Article 6 Theft of public or private property in any of the circumstances provided for in items 3 to 8 of Article 2 of this Interpretation, or housebreaking theft or theft with weapons, with the amount reaching 50% of the "huge amount" or "especially huge amount" provided for in Article 1 of this Interpretation, It can be identified as "other serious circumstances" or "other particularly serious circumstances" as provided for in Article 264 of the Criminal Law respectively.

Article 7 If the amount of public or private property stolen is relatively large, the perpetrator confesses, regrets his crime, returns the stolen goods or returns compensation, and under any of the following circumstances, the circumstances are minor, he may not be prosecuted or exempted from criminal punishment; If necessary, the relevant departments shall impose administrative penalties:

(1) having circumstances of statutory leniency;

(2) Not participating in the distribution of stolen goods or receiving less stolen goods and not being the principal offender;

(3) the victim understands;

(4) other cases of minor or minor harm.

Article 8 A person who is forgiven for stealing property from a family member or close relative is generally not considered to be a crime; Where criminal responsibility is investigated, leniency shall be accorded as appropriate.

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Article 10 Whoever steals another person's motor vehicle shall be dealt with in accordance with the following provisions:

(1) Whoever steals a motor vehicle, resulting in the loss of the vehicle, shall be convicted and punished for theft;

(2) Where, in order to steal other property, a motor vehicle is illegally occupied after being used as a criminal tool, or the vehicle is abandoned and thus lost, the value of the stolen vehicle shall be included in the stolen amount;

(3) Whoever, in order to commit other crimes, illegally occupies a vehicle after using it as a tool of a crime, or abandons the vehicle resulting in its loss, shall be punished for the crime of theft and several other crimes together; Whoever returns the vehicle without causing loss shall be given a heavier punishment in accordance with other crimes he has committed.

Article 11 Those who steal public or private property and cause damage to property shall be dealt with in accordance with the following provisions:

(1) Whoever steals public or private property by destructive means, causing damage to other property, shall be given a heavier punishment for the crime of theft; If the crime of theft and other crimes are constituted at the same time, a heavier punishment shall be given as the felony;

(2) Whoever, after committing a crime of theft, intentionally destroys other property in order to cover up the crime or take revenge, etc. and constitutes a crime, shall be punished for the crime of theft together with several other crimes constituted;

(3) If the act of theft does not constitute a crime, but damage to property constitutes other crimes, it shall be convicted and punished for other crimes.

Article 12 Attempted theft under any of the following circumstances shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law:

(1) aiming for theft at a huge amount of property;

(2) taking precious cultural relics as the target of theft;

(3) other serious circumstances.

Where theft has both completed and attempted, and respectively reaches different ranges of sentencing, punishment shall be imposed in accordance with the provisions of heavier punishment; Those who reach the same range of sentencing shall be punished for theft.

Article 13 Where the organization or instigation of theft by a unit complies with the relevant provisions of Article 264 of the Criminal Law and this Interpretation, the organizer, the messenger or the person directly responsible for the crime of theft shall be investigated for criminal responsibility.

Article 14 Whoever commits the crime of theft and is sentenced to a fine according to law shall be sentenced to a fine of not less than 1,000 yuan but not more than twice the amount stolen; If there is no amount stolen or the amount stolen cannot be calculated, a fine of not less than 1,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed.

Article 15 After the promulgation and implementation of this Interpretation, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Theft Cases (Legal Interpretation (1998) No. 4) shall be repealed simultaneously; In case of any inconsistency between previously issued judicial interpretations and normative documents and this Interpretation, this Interpretation shall prevail.

【 Judicial Interpretation II 】

Article 2 The theft of general cultural relics, third-class cultural relics, and second-class or above cultural relics shall be identified as "a large amount", "a huge amount", and "a particularly huge amount" respectively as provided for in Article 264 of the Criminal Law.

Where the grade of cultural relics cannot be determined, or where the conviction and punishment according to the grade of cultural relics are obviously too light or too heavy, the conviction and punishment shall be based on the value of the cultural relics stolen.

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Article 8 (3) Whoever, by destructive means, steals ancient buildings other than sites of ancient culture, ancient tombs, cave temples, stone carvings, murals, important historical sites in modern times, representative buildings and other immovable cultural relics shall be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of theft in accordance with the provisions of Article 264 of the Criminal Law.

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Article 11 (2) Companies, enterprises, institutions, government organs, organizations and other units that commit acts such as theft of cultural relics, intentional damage to cultural relics, scenic spots and historic sites, negligent damage to cultural relics, robbery and excavation of ancient cultural sites and ancient tombs shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the corresponding conviction and sentencing standards provided for in this Interpretation.

Article 12 Those who smuggle, steal or resell immovable cultural relics as a whole shall be convicted and sentenced according to the grade of the immovable cultural relics they belong to and in accordance with the provisions of Articles 1, 2 and 6 of this Interpretation:

(1) For immovable cultural relics that have not yet been identified as cultural relics under protection, the conviction and sentencing standards for general cultural relics shall apply;

(2) Cultural relics protection units at the city and county level shall apply the three-level conviction and sentencing standards for cultural relics;

(3) National key cultural relics protection units and provincial cultural relics protection units shall apply the conviction and sentencing standards for cultural relics above Grade II.

Whoever commits smuggling, stealing, reselling or other acts against the building components, murals, sculptures, stone carvings, etc. of immovable cultural relics shall be convicted and sentenced according to the grade or value of the building components, murals, sculptures, stone carvings and other cultural relics in accordance with the provisions of Articles 1, 2 and 6 of this Interpretation. The classification of immovable cultural relics belonging to architectural components, murals, sculptures, stone carvings, etc., shall be taken into account as circumstances of sentencing.

Article 13 If a case involves cultural relics of different grades, the penalty shall be imposed according to the range of punishment for high-level cultural relics; Where there are more than one cultural relic of the same level, five cultural relics of the same level shall be regarded as one cultural relic of a higher grade, except those of obviously unequal value.

Article 14 Where a person is convicted and sentenced according to the value of a cultural relic, the value of the cultural relic involved shall be determined according to the proof of the effective price of the cultural relic involved; If there is no valid price certificate, or if it is determined that the price certificate is obviously unreasonable, it shall be determined on the basis of the amount of stolen goods sold, or in combination with the appraisal opinions and reports provided for in Article 15 of this Interpretation.

Article 15 Where the administrative department for cultural relics has confirmed the cultural relics involved and their grade before the perpetrator commits the relevant act, it may directly confirm the facts of the relevant case.

Where it is difficult to determine the specialized issues related to the identification and value determination of cultural relics involved in the case, the judicial appraisal institution shall issue an appraisal opinion, or the institution designated by the administrative department of cultural relics under The State Council shall issue a report. Among them, for the value of cultural relics, the price certification body may also make price certification and issue a report.

Article 16 (1) Where an act prescribed in Articles 1, 2, 6 to 9 of this Interpretation has met the criteria for criminal responsibility, but the perpetrator is a first-time offender, actively returns or assists in the recovery of cultural relics, does not cause damage to cultural relics, and indeed shows remorse, the circumstances of the crime may be deemed to be minor, and no prosecution or exemption from criminal punishment.

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Article 17 Whoever smuggles, steals, destroys, resells, embezzles or illegally transfers fossils of vertebrates of ancient China or fossils of ancient humans of scientific value shall be convicted and sentenced in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law and this Interpretation.

Article 18 This interpretation shall come into force as of January 1, 2016. After the promulgation of this Interpretation, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in Handling Cases of Theft, Excavation, Illegal Operation and Smuggling of Cultural Relics (Law (Research) Fa (1987) No. 32) shall be repealed simultaneously; In case of any inconsistency between the previously issued judicial interpretation and this Interpretation, this Interpretation shall prevail.

【 Judicial Interpretation III 】

Article 6 Whoever commits such acts as theft, robbery, fraud or forcible seizure of the proceeds of a crime and the proceeds generated therefrom, if the case constitutes a crime, shall be convicted and punished for the crimes of larceny, robbery, fraud or forcible seizure respectively.

【 Judicial Interpretation IV 】

Article 7 Whoever illegally recharges a telecommunication card and uses it, resulting in a relatively large amount of telecommunication service fee losses, shall be convicted and punished for theft in accordance with the provisions of Article 264 of the Criminal Law.

Article 8 Whoever embezzles another person's public information network account or password to access the Internet, thereby causing a relatively large amount of loss of telecommunications fees to another person, shall be convicted and punished for theft in accordance with the provisions of Article 264 of the Criminal Law.

【 Judicial Interpretation Ⅴ】

Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Criminal Cases Concerning the Destruction of Forest Resources (Legal Interpretation [2000] No. 36, 20001211)

Article 9. To steal as one's own trees that have been felled and are owned by the State, collectives or others