Abstract: The standards for the punishment of incapable crimes directly reflect the choice of the basic position on the criminal law. Many theories are used to explore the punishment of incapable crimes and its standards in the academic circle of the criminal law both at home and abroad. By comparing and analyzing the various theories and clarifying the choices and functions of the criminal law’s basic principles and theories in handling the punishment of incapable crimes, this paper believes that the impression theory is more reasonable and feasible. It also considers some accidental and related factors that lead to incapable crimes in order to judge the possibility of their punishment and correct the inherent flaws of the impression theory from the perspective of general connection in modern society and that of preventive function of law.

Key words: incapable crime, possibility of punishment, contingency of incapable crime