ABSTRACT
In parallel with the safeguard of legal interests, human rights protection turns out to be another major function of modern criminal law, which sustains the judicial justice by limiting criminalization and protecting decriminalization. Decriminalization of an act that does not constitute a crime is a basic function of a scientific system on crime theory and also a reasonable interpretation of the substantive rule of law. Proper use of the decriminalization theory would not only let criminals punishable go unchecked but also render the borders of criminalization clearer. Against the growing tendency of early legislation and generalized criminalization, the decriminalization theory can work to not only reflect on legislation and respond to the judiciary, but also protect human rights by confining the unreasonable expansion of the crime circle.
