Analysis on the legal nature of malicious withdrawal from a defected ATM

Abstract

Malicious withdrawal from ATM constitutes offence of theft and belongs to “theft from financial institutions”. In case of “extremely huge amount”, according to China’s Criminal Law, the minimum statutory penalty for the accused is life imprisonment, which is undoubtedly too severe. So far as judiciaries are concerned, reflection should be made with respect to the relevant legislative provisions. In handling individual cases, the wisest practice for judiciaries is to refer to the provision of clause 2 of article 63 of the Criminal Law, hence submitting them to the examination and approval by the Supreme Court for mitigation of penalties.

Key words： malicious withdrawal; theft; financial institution