（1999年10月9日最高人民法院审判委员会第1079次会议、1999年10月8日最高人民检察院检察委员会第九届第47次会议通过，自1999年10月30日起施行。）

　　为依法惩处组织和利用邪教组织进行犯罪活动，根据刑法的有关规定，现就办理这类案件具体应用法律的若干问题解释如下：

　　第一条刑法第三百条中的“邪教组织”，是指冒用宗教、气功或者其他名义建立，神化首要分子，利用制造、散布迷信邪说等手段蛊惑、蒙骗他人，发展、控制成员，危害社会的非法组织。

　　第二条组织和利用邪教组织并具有下列情形之一的，依照刑法第三百条第一款的规定定罪处罚：

　　（一）聚众围攻、冲击国家机关、企业事业单位，扰乱国家机关、企业事业单位的工作、生产、经营、教学和科研秩序的；

　　（二）非法举行集会、游行、示威，煽动、欺骗、组织其成员或者其他人聚众围攻、冲击、强占、哄闹公共场所及宗教活动场所，扰乱社会秩序的；

　　（三）抗拒有关部门取缔或者已经被有关部门取缔，又恢复或者另行建立邪教组织，或者继续进行邪教活动的；

　　（四）煽动、欺骗、组织其成员或者其他人不履行法定义务，情节严重的；

　　（五）出版、印刷、复制、发行宣扬邪教内容出版物，以及印制邪教组织标识的；

　　（六）其他破坏国家法律、行政法规实施行为的。实施前款所列行为，并具有下列情形之一的，属于“情节特别严重”：

　　1、跨省、自治区、直辖市建立组织机构或者发展成员的；

　　2、勾结境外机构、组织、人员进行邪教活动的；

　　3、出版、印刷、复制、发行宣扬邪教内容出版物以及印制邪教组织标识，数量或者数额巨大的；

　　4、煽动、欺骗、组织其成员或者其他人破坏国家法律、行政法规实施，造成严重后果的。

　　第三条刑法第三百条第二款规定的组织和利用邪教组织蒙骗他人，致人死亡，是指组织和利用邪教组织制造、散布迷信邪说，蒙骗其成员或者其他人实施绝食、自残、自虐等行为，或者阻止病人进行正常治疗，致人死亡的情形。具有下列情形之一的，属于“情节特别严重”：

　　（一）造成3人以上死亡的；

　　（二）造成死亡人数不满3人，但造成多人重伤的；

　　（三）曾因邪教活动受过刑事或者行政处罚，又组织和利用邪教组织蒙骗他人，致人死亡的；

　　（四）造成其他特别严重后果的。

　　第四条组织和利用邪教组织制造、散布迷信邪说，指使、胁迫其成员或者其他人实施自杀、自伤行为的，分别依照刑法第二百三十二条、第二百三十四条的规定，以故意杀人罪或者故意伤害罪定罪处罚。

　　第五条组织和利用邪教组织，以迷信邪说引诱、胁迫、欺骗或者其他手段，奸淫妇女、幼女的，依照刑法第二百三十六条的规定，以强奸罪或者奸淫幼女罪定罪处罚。

　　第六条组织和利用邪教组织以各种欺骗手段，收取他人财物的，依照刑法第二百六十六条的规定，以诈骗罪定罪处罚。

　　第七条组织和利用邪教组织，组织、策划、实施、煽动分裂国家、破坏国家统一或者颠覆国家政权、推翻社会主义制度的，分别依照刑法第一百零三条、第一百零五条、第一百一十三条的规定定罪处罚。

　　第八条对于邪教组织和组织、利用邪教组织破坏法律实施的犯罪分子，以各种手段非法聚敛的财物，用于犯罪的工具、宣传品等，应当依法追缴、没收。

　　第九条对组织和利用邪教组织进行犯罪活动的组织、策划、指挥者和屡教不改的积极参加者，依照刑法和本解释的规定追究刑事责任；对有自首、立功表现的，可以依法从轻、减轻或者免除处罚。

　　对于受蒙蔽、胁迫参加邪教组织并已退出和不再参加邪教组织活动的人员，不作为犯罪处理。

Explanations of Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate Concerning Certain Problems Related to Laws Applicable to Handling Cases of Organizing and Employing Cults to Commit Crimes

(Adopted at the 1079th Meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on October 9, 1999 and at the 47th Meeting of the Ninth Procuratorial Committee of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on October 8, 1999)

To punish according to law the crimes of organizing and employing heretical cult organizations to engage in criminal activities, and in line with related regulations of the Criminal Law, the following explanations on several issues in relation to specific laws applicable to handling such cases are hereby made:

1. "Cultist organizations'' in Article 300 of the Criminal Law refer to those illegal organizations that have been established under the guise of religion, Qigong or other forms, deifying their leading members, enchanting and deceiving others by concocting and spreading superstitious fallacies, recruiting and controlling their members, and endangering society.

2. Punishment shall be determined and meted out to those who organize and employ cults and have fallen into one of the following circumstances according to Section 1 of Article 300 in the Criminal Law:

(1) Assembling crowds to besiege and harass state organs, enterprises or institutions, and disturb the order of their work, production, operation, teaching and research; (2) Holding illegal assemblies, parades and demonstrations, or inciting, deceiving and organizing their members or others to gather together to besiege, harass, seize or disrupt public places or venues for religious activities, or disrupt social order; (3) Resisting concerned departments' decision on banning their organizations, or resuming the banned organizations or establishing other cultist organizations, or continuing their cultist activities; (4) Instigating, deceiving and organizing their members or others to refuse fulfilling their legal obligations, with the case being serious; (5) Publishing, printing, duplicating or distributing publications spreading cultist fallacies, and printing symbols of cults; and (6) Other activities that violate state laws and administrative regulations.

A case shall be regarded as "especially serious'' if it involves any of the following while conducting the above-mentioned activities:

(1) Setting up organizations or recruiting members across provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government; (2) Collaborating with overseas agencies, organizations or individuals to engage in cultist activities; (3) Publishing, printing, duplicating or distributing publications spreading cultist fallacies, and printing symbols of cults, involving a huge amount of copies and sales values; and (4) Instigating, deceiving and organizing their members or others to violate state laws and administrative regulations, resulting in serious consequences.

3. Cases of setting up and employing cultist organizations to deceive others and cause deaths in section 2 of Article 300 in the Criminal Law refer to the cases of establishing and using cultist organizations to concoct and spread superstitious fallacies, deceive their members or others into practicing fast and inflicting wounds on themselves, or prevent patients from taking normal medical treatment, resulting in deaths.

A case shall be regarded as "especially serious'' if any of the following occurs:
(1) Causing three deaths or more; (2) Causing fewer than three deaths, but serious injuries to many people; (3) Those who have received criminal or administrative penalties for engaging in cultist activities again establish and use cults to deceive others and cause deaths; and (4) Causing other especially serious consequences.

4. Those who establish and use cultist organizations to concoct and spread superstitious fallacies, and instigate and coerce their members or others to commit suicide or inflict wounds on themselves, shall be deemed to have committed intentional homicide or intentional harming and be punished according to the provisions in Articles 232 and 234 of the Criminal Law.

5. Those who organize and use cults to sexually exploit women or young girls by seducing, coercing, deceiving or other ways using superstitious fallacies, shall be deemed to have committed rape or raping underage girls and be punished according to the provisions in Article 236 of the Criminal Law.

6. Those who organize and use cults and swindle money and property from others by deceptive means shall be deemed to have committed swindle and be punished according to the provisions in Article 266 of the Criminal Law.

7. Those who establish and use cults to organize, plot, carry out and instigate activities aimed at splitting the country, endangering national unification, or subverting the state power and overthrowing the socialist system, shall be convicted and punished according to the provisions in Articles 103, 105 and 113 of the Criminal Law.

8. All the money and property collected through various means by cultist organizations and the criminal offenders who establish and use cults to disrupt the implementation of laws, and tools and publicity materials used for criminal activities shall be confiscated according to law.

9. Organizers, plotters and leaders who establish and use cultist organizations for criminal activities and the enthusiastic participants who refuse to mend their ways despite repeated admonition shall be prosecuted for their criminal liabilities according to the provisions in the Criminal Law and this "Explanations". Those who have confessed their crimes or made contributions to the investigations, may be dealt with leniently, given reduced term of a sentence or exempted from punishment in accordance with the law.

Those who were deceived or coerced into joining cultist organizations and have already withdrawn from such organizations and no longer participate in cultist activities, shall not be dealt with as offenders.