从若干起冤案看人身自由的宪法保护

人身自由是公民全部权利中最基础的和前提性的部分。在人身自由保护领域,近年来不断披露出的一些重大冤案向社会发出了警示,要求人们给予人身自由保护问题以足够关注。保护人身自由固然需要完善刑事诉讼程序,但从根本上看却首先是宪法课题。全面、直接保护人身自由,既是200余年来的宪法传统,也是当代宪法发展的趋势。我国宪法保护公民人身自由的程序性条款不足,因而公民能够享有的相应程序性权利偏少。我国需从补充宪法程序性条款、建立行之有效的违宪审查制度和保障审判权独立等方面入手来提升人身自由的保护水平。

Constitutional Protection of Personal Freedom:A Comment on Recent Cases of Injustices

Personal freedom is an integral party of fundamental human rights and freedoms. Recently reported cases of gross injustice in the area of personal freedom violations red - light a serious warning to the society and call full attention to the personal freedom protection mechanism in China. As to the protection of personal freedom, though improvement of criminal procures is a necessity, in essence the Constitution shall play a primary role. Full and direct protection of personal freedom, in a historical perspective, not only embodies a 200 - year constitutional tradition, but also exhibits a contemporary constitutional tendency. By comparison, our Chinese Constitution lacks procedural provisions regarding personal freedom protection and accordingly results in limited procedural rights. In conclusion, the author argues that in order to enhance personal freedom protection in China, it is necessary to a-mend the Constitution by adding procedural clauses, to establish an effective constitutional judicial review mechanism, to ensure judiciary independence, and to broaden the freedom of the press.