Chinese scholar gets Beccaria Award Gao Mingxuan (Left) [Photo/Legalinfo.gov.cn]

The 87-year-old Gao Mingxuan, dean emeritus of Beijing Normal University's Criminal Law Science Research Institute, recently received a Beccaria Medal, at the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, on April 15, in Doha, the capital city of West Asian country Qatar, where he addressed the gathering in English to express his thanks.

Gao was born in 1928 in Yuhuan county, Zhejiang province, and is also a distinguished professor in the university's Law School and honorary vice-president of the International Association of Penal Law.

The Cesare Beccaria Medal is one of the most important awards in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice and was established by the International Society of Social Defense in recognition of people who contribute to criminal law and promote law and human sympathy.

Presenting the award was Luis Arroyo Zapatero, president of International Society of Social Defense, and it was intended not only for Professor Gao himself, but also for all legal scholars in the field of criminal law in China. It also reflects the greater recognition China is getting for internationalizing, democratizing, and modernizing its penal law.