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3. How to Surrender to Justice

  • Publication Date：
  • Last updated：2023-12-16
  • View count：555
  1. Surrender to Justice:
    Refers to a criminal actively stating his or her crime to an investigation authority (such as the prosecutors office or a police station), or to a public servant (like a prosecutor or police officer) before the crime is discovered and actively faces a trial.
  2. The legal basis and purpose:
    Article 62 of the Criminal Code provides: “The penalty may be decreased for a criminal who surrenders himself or herself to face a trial before the crime is discovered. But, if special provisions have been made, then such provisions shall apply.” The so-called special provisions refer to the provisions of the
    separate articles of the CriminalCode that deal with lessoning or exemption from penalty.
    These include Article 102, Paragraph 3 of Article 122, and Paragraph 2 of Article 154 of the Criminal Code. Consequently, the legislative intent is to encourage a criminal to repent for what he or she has done and allow the investigation authority
    to discover the crime as soon as possible to prevent innocent people from being suspected.
  3. The necessary elements for Surrender to Justice:
    • Surrender to Justice must be made before the crime is discovered, which means that the investigation organizations or civil servants have not come to the knowledge of the existence of the crime or if they have known the existence of the crime, they still do not know who the criminal is. If only the criminal and others have knowledge of the crime, it is still considered an undiscovered crime.
    • As for Surrender to Justice, a person should proclaim the crime committed actively and tell the whole story.
    • Surrender to Justice must be made to an investigation organization or a public servant and the criminal must be willing to face a trial. If he or she escapes or disappear after Surrender to Justice, all special treatment will be void. Surrendering to the victim is not Surrender to Justice.
  4. Modes of Surrender to Justice:
    • Surrender to Justice may be made either by oral statement or by written report. In a written report the title “Surrender to Justice” is not necessary.
    • Surrender to Justice may be made either by the criminal or by someone he or she entrusts. 
    • The criminal may either surrender to an investigation authority directly or go through a non-investigation authority. In the latter case, Surrender to Justice comes in effect only after it is forwarded to the investigation authority by the non-investigation authority.
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