精神病辩护制度研究——基于美国精神病辩护制度的思考

由于刑事责任的承担要求行为人对自己行为的社会危害性有认识和控制能力,某些精神病人对自己行为的社会危害性没有认识或无法控制,因而无法对自己的行为承担刑事责任,精神病也就成了刑事辩护的重要事由。在美国刑事审判中,精神病是无罪辩护的重要理由,判例法与刑事立法共同形成了一套较为完善的精神病辩护制度。在美国,精神病辩护制度的存废问题一直备受争议;精神病法律标准处于变化之中,各法域标准不一;精神病辩护的提出、审理程序、证明责任分配与证明标准、裁定及专家证人的作用有其特点;因精神病而判无罪者的关押与释放形成了特定规则。我们可以借鉴其制度的某些合理因素,健全和完善我国的精神病辩护制度。

A Study on Mental Disease Defense

Criminal responsibility means the actor has the ability to recognize fight or wrong about his action in criminal law and control his action.Some people with insanity,however,have no this kind of ca- pacity,so they can't take this responsibility,insanity is an important cause for defense in criminal litigation. Insanity is an important plea for innocence in criminal justice system in U.S.A;there is a perfect system of insanity defense in case law and statute law.The Problem of reservation or abolition about insanity defense, however,is very controversial.The legal standard of insanity has being changed since it came into being; the standards aren't uniform in different jurisdictions.The advance of insanity defense,the hearing proce- dure,the burden of proof and the standard of proof,the verdict and the role of expert witness,all have their feature.There are special rules about post-acquittal confinement and release.