Abstract: The risk society calls on the administrative organs to carry out risk regulation, but the definition of administrative punishment as punishment and deterrence cannot fully meet the needs of risk regulation and risk prevention. The uncertainty and subjectivity of technical risks in a risk society challenge the legal principle of administrative penalty and the administrative discretion. In answer to the challenges, the contradiction between science and democracy in administrative penalties should be dealt with through procedural approach,by addins risk prevention as a supplement to the legal principles of punishment to legalize risk prevention of administrative organs,redefining the constituent elements of behaviors subject to administrative penalties,clarifying the relationship between the violation of administrative law obligations and the blank elements,subjective fault and collective governance,and by exploring the possibility of advancing the legal evaluation of administrative punishment so as to curb the occurrence of risks.

Key words: administrative penalties, risk society, risk regulation, technical risk, risk prevention