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High application rate, low appeal rate: The legal profession affirms the effectiveness of the leniency system.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 6 (Reporter Chen Fei) The system of conviction and punishment of leniency is an important system established by the revised Criminal Procedure Law. In the last two years, how effective has judicial practice been? How to further improve the system design? From the 4th to the 5th, the Supreme People’s Prosecutor’s Office and the China Society of Criminal Procedure Law held the “Seminar on Modernizing the National System of Governance and Clemency for Pleasure and Punishment”, which the participants discussed in depth.
In order to promote the implementation of the clemency system for the confession of guilt and punishment, the Supreme People’s Prosecutor’s Office requires that the organs of the prosecution service at all levels take seriously the main responsibilities and increase the application of the system. He also proposed the goal of “precision, standardization and intelligence” to promote sentencing recommendations.
Statistics show that the application rate of the leniency system is gradually increasing. In the first semester of this year, the rate of application of the clemency system for the prosecution bodies that handle criminal cases stabilized at more than 80%, and the rate of adoption of sentencing recommendations rose to 90.54% .
“The leniency system for convictions and punishment is generally fluid, stable and effective, promotes social harmony and stability more effectively, and punishes crimes in a more timely and effective manner. The rate of appeals after the The first instance of convictions and punishment is much lower than the general appeal rate for criminal cases. ” The Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor’s Office Zhang Jun said at the seminar.
Gao Jinghong, Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court, also stated that the leniency system for pleading guilty and punishing has achieved remarkable results in punishing crimes in accordance with the law, strengthening judicial protection of human rights, the implementation of criminal policy that combines leniency and rigor, advancing the diversion of complicated cases, and promoting equity and justice.
Likewise, it pointed out that it is necessary to accurately grasp the design of the clemency system to confess guilt and punishment based on national conditions, study and discuss the existing problems in the implementation of the system based on the real national conditions of our country, and solve them realistically.
Attorneys are important participants in the plea process. Since the implementation of the system, most attorneys have been actively involved in the work of the duty attorneys and have handled confession and punishment cases in accordance with the law. In 2019, on-duty attorneys across the country were involved in nearly 340,000 confession and punishment cases.
Vice Minister of Justice Xiong Xuanguo stated at the seminar that the Ministry of Justice will take effective measures to improve the system of lawyers in service, deepen the pilot work of full coverage of defense of lawyers in criminal cases, improve the mechanism of protection for the participation of lawyers in the confession of guilt and punishment, and will further develop the role of lawyers. Move forward in the work of pleading guilty and punishing leniency.
“In recent years, the leniency system to confess guilt and punish has been steadily implemented and the effect is remarkable, but the problems in the practice of the system also need to be further studied.” Bian Jianlin, president of the China Society of Criminal Procedure Law, candidly said: “There are some differences in understanding and understanding. There are also different opinions, and there are still certain problems with the cooperation and restriction of the relevant departments.”
He noted that, in particular, how to ensure that suspects and accused voluntarily plead guilty, protect the litigation rights of suspects and accused, take full advantage of the active role of on-duty lawyers, and adequately and accurately formulate recommendations judgment, and other issues must be resolved.
In response to the problems in practice, Hu Yunteng, president of the Legal Research Association of the China Bar Association, suggested strengthening the justification for the sentencing recommendations. “The judge must seriously and responsibly carry out a substantive review of the content, basis, procedures, and reasons for sentencing recommendations to ensure fairness of sentence and sentence in cases of conviction and punishment “, said.
“Allegations of guilt and punishment require attorneys to ensure the willfulness and authenticity of the confession of guilt and punishment of alleged offenders and defendants. The involvement of attorneys should be a necessary prerequisite for the confession of guilt and punishment.” Tian Wenchang, director of the Professional Criminal Committee of the National Bar Association, highlighted the participation of lawyers. It considers that the clemency system to confess guilt and sanction is still in the exploratory stage. From the perspective of effectively protecting the rights and interests of the accused, the right of the lawyer to defend innocence should not be restricted.
Chen Weidong, a professor at Renmin University of China School of Law, believes that pleading guilty and punishing leniently is a right granted by law to suspected criminals and accused persons, and signing the guilty plea and punishing the confession means reaching to a consensus. “Therefore, prosecutors must respect the crime. The opinions of the suspect and the accused ensure that the signature of the confession of guilt and punishment is in accordance with the principle of voluntariness and authenticity.”
Long Zongzhi, a professor at Sichuan University School of Law, suggested that the indulgence conviction and punishment system should implement a series of technical improvement measures, including precise sentencing recommendations, implementation of evidence discovery, strengthening of prosecution and defense negotiations, and implementation of a risk alert system.
