论美国刑事诉讼中的证明责任分配标准

在美国的刑事证明责任分配标准中,犯罪构成要件标准一直占据着正统的地位,而无罪推定标准只是昙花一现。无罪推定标准无法长期在美国刑事证明责任的分配中占据一席之地的原因在于:第一,无罪推定标准与美国的犯罪构成模式格格不入;第二,在美国采用无罪推定标准更不利于保护被告人权利。犯罪构成要件标准的优点在于它既与美国对抗式的刑事诉讼模式相契合,又降低了控方的证明负担,有利于提高起诉的效率;它的缺点在于有时很难区分犯罪构成要素与辩护理由。

On the Allocation of Burden of Persuasion in American Criminal Proceedings

The Tatbestand is the main standard of allocating burden of persuasion, while the presumption of innocence is short-lived. The presumption of innocence cannot occupy a position in the allocation of burden of persuasion for a long time can be explained by the following factors: Firstly, the presumption of innocence is contradictory to the Tatbestand of the U.S.A.Secondly, adoption of the presumption of innocence is more detrimental to the protection of the rights of the defendant. The standard of Tatbestand is not only correspondent to the adversary criminal trial of the U.S.A. but also reduce the burden of the prosecutor, thus advancing the efficiency of prosecuting. The disadvantage of the standard of Tatbestand is that the boundary of the elements of crime and the defense can not be determined accurately sometimes.