Is the crime of insult a private prosecution case?

The crime of insult is a private prosecution case. The crime of insult refers to the use of violence or other methods to openly demean the personality of others and destroy the reputation of others, and the circumstances are serious. The crime of insult is a case that can only be handled upon complaint. Victims or guardians of private prosecution cases as stipulated by law directly file criminal proceedings with the court in order to investigate the criminal liability of the defendant. Therefore, the crime of insult is a private prosecution case.

1. Object Requirements The object violated by this crime is the personal dignity and reputation rights of others. The right to personal dignity and reputation are the basic personal rights of citizens. Article 38 of the Constitution stipulates: "The personal dignity of citizens of the People's Republic of China is inviolable. It is prohibited to use any method to insult, slander, or falsely accuse citizens."

The so-called personal dignity refers to Citizens understand and respect their own or others' personal and social values ??based on various objective conditions such as their social environment, status, reputation, work environment, family relationships, etc.

The so-called reputation refers to the reputation and reputation gained by citizens in social life. It is the social evaluation of a citizen's moral character, talent, credibility, etc. in social life. The so-called right of reputation refers to the personality right whose content is the maintenance and safety of reputation. The criminal targets of this crime can only be natural persons, not units.

Insulting legal persons and other groups and organizations does not constitute the crime of insult. Anyone who insults the national flag or national emblem of the People's Republic of China by burning, damaging, scribbling, defiling or trampling on it in public places shall be punished in accordance with the Flag Law of the People's Republic of China and Article 299 of this Law. The crime of insulting the national flag and national emblem shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law.

2. Objective Elements: This crime objectively manifests serious behavior that openly derogates the personality of others and destroys their reputation through violence or other methods.

1. Behavior that insults others.

The main means of behavior are:

(1) Violence to insult the person. The violence mentioned here only refers to the means of insult.

For example, throwing feces at people, painting people with ink, forcibly cutting their hair, forcing others to perform degrading actions, etc., but not violence that refers to beatings or harming physical health.

If the perpetrator has the intention and behavior to harm the physical health of others, he should be punished as a crime of injury.

(2) Use verbal insults, that is, use vicious and mean language to ridicule and insult the victim, making him look embarrassed in public and unbearable, such as verbally spreading the victim's life privacy, physical defects, etc.

(3) Literal insult, that is, using big-character posters, small-character posters, drawings, cartoons, letters, books or other public texts to leak other people's privacy, slander other people's personality, and destroy other people's reputation.

2. Insulting behavior must be carried out openly.

The so-called "open" insult refers to insulting others in front of a third party or even everyone, or in a way that can be heard or seen by an unspecified person or a large number of people. Publicity does not necessarily require the presence of the victim.

If the insult is only carried out in front of the victim, without the presence of a third party, and it is impossible for the third party to know, it does not constitute the crime of insult. Because only the presence of a third party can damage the victim's external reputation.

3. The target of insult must be a specific person.

The specific person can be one person or several people, but it must be specific and identifiable. Swearing without a specific target in public does not constitute the crime of insult.

The deceased cannot be the target of insult in this crime, but if the perpetrator insults the deceased on the surface but actually insults the family of the deceased, it should be deemed as a crime of insult.

4. The act of openly insulting others must be serious enough to constitute this crime.

Although there is behavior that openly insults others, it is not serious and is only a general civil infringement.

The so-called serious circumstances mainly refer to situations where the means are bad and the consequences are serious, such as forcing the victim to crawl under one's legs in public; tearing off the victim's clothes in public; smearing the victim's face, wearing torn shoes, and wearing green clothes. Forcibly dragging a victim through the streets with a hat; coercing the victim to eat or sprinkling excrement and other filthy objects on his body in public; coercing the victim to engage in obscene acts such as kissing and masturbating with the corpse;

Causing mental disorder due to public insults to others Or committed suicide; repeatedly insulted others, causing great damage to their personality and reputation; insulted personnel performing official duties, women and even foreign guests, causing a bad impact; etc.

3. Subject Requirements The subject of this crime is a general subject. Any natural person who has reached the age of criminal responsibility and has the ability to commit criminal responsibility can commit this crime. State agencies, enterprises, institutions, and social groups do not constitute the subject of this crime.

For those who publish insulting or defamatory articles in periodicals and magazines, according to Articles 5 and 36 of the "Interim Regulations on Periodical Management" issued by the Press and Publication Administration on November 24, 1988,

Any periodical that violates these regulations and publishes content that insults or slanders others will be given a warning by the press and publication administrative department based on the severity of the case; fined; illegal income confiscated; sales stopped; illegal periodicals confiscated or destroyed; periodic suspension of publication; Suspension of business for rectification; cancellation of registration and other administrative penalties.

4. Subjective elements: The subjective aspect of this crime is direct intention, and it has the purpose of derogating others' personality and destroying their reputation. Indirect intention and negligence do not constitute this crime.

Extended information

Can’t you speak unscrupulously on the Internet?

The Internet is a virtual world. In an online chat room, everyone cannot see each other, even with the help of a camera When you wait for a special chat tool, you can see the other person's face, but you don't know who the other person is or where they are from. Because of this concealment and virtuality, netizens have no scruples and speak much more casually.

But because of this, some gentlemen who were originally modest in life completely changed their appearance online, venting their emotions wantonly, exposing the weaknesses of human nature, and making nasty remarks at the slightest dissatisfaction. .

Can I really do whatever I want when I talk online? No. In order to strengthen the security protection of the international Internet of computer information networks and maintain public order and social stability, as early as December 30, 1997, the Ministry of Public Security issued the "Measures for the Administration of International Internet Security Protection of Computer Information Networks" (hereinafter referred to as "Measures")

Article 4 of the "Measures" stipulates that no unit or individual may use the international Internet to endanger national security, leak state secrets, or infringe on the interests of the country, society, collectives and citizens. legitimate rights and interests, and shall not engage in illegal or criminal activities; Article 5 stipulates that no unit or individual may use the international network to produce, copy, review and disseminate information that openly insults others or fabricates facts to slander others.

If any netizen is found to have violated these regulations, in accordance with Article 10 of the "Measures", interconnection units, access units, and legal persons and other organizations that use computer information networks for international networking shall retain relevant original records and Report to the local public security agency within 24 hours.

Will you be punished if you curse online?

Most netizens who curse online have this misunderstanding: if online disputes are settled online, the worst case scenario is that they will be kicked out of the chat room by the network administrator. . In fact, this is not the case. Some registration information on the Internet, such as the registration information in Sohu Classmate Directory, is mostly real information. Even virtual people on the Internet correspond to people who exist in life. Swearing in virtual cyberspace is also legally responsible.

First of all, administrative responsibilities should be assumed. According to the provisions of Article 20 of the "Measures", those who curse online will be given a warning by the public security organs. If there is any illegal income, the illegal income will be confiscated. Individuals may also be fined up to 5,000 yuan; if it constitutes a violation of public security management, Penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the provisions of the "Public Security Administration Punishment Regulations".

Secondly, civil liability should be borne. Article 120 of the General Principles of the Civil Law stipulates: Citizens’ right to reputation is protected by law. In fact, swearing online is still a general infringement, but the method and carrier of the infringement are relatively special.

Due to the high openness of the Internet and the random nature of online speech, the huge impact on society cannot be underestimated. The damage to others' reputation caused by insulting others online is more serious than insulting others in daily life. Therefore, those who use the Internet to insult others should bear civil liability in accordance with the law.

If you openly insult others online, if the circumstances are serious, it may also constitute the crime of insult and bear criminal liability. According to the relevant provisions of my country's criminal law, the crime of insult refers to a serious act that uses violence or other methods to openly demean the personality of others and destroy the reputation of others. Judging from the speed, scope and influence of the spread of curse words on the Internet, it should be considered "blatant".

The Criminal Law stipulates: Anyone who openly insults others or fabricates facts to slander others, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance, or deprivation of political rights.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Crime of Insult

Baidu Encyclopedia - Deal with it before telling

Baidu Encyclopedia - Private Prosecution

People's Daily Online - Legal Daily: Online Is there no one to care about swearing?