以审判为中心的诉讼制度改革:实效、瓶颈与出路

通过对2018年和2014年基层法院审理的有争议刑事案件判决书的抽样调查,并在一系列核心指标上进行对比研究,发现以审判为中心的刑事诉讼制度改革启动四年来,除了在辩护指标上有明显好转外,在证人、鉴定人出庭率等核心指标上,2018年的数据与2014年的数据相比并未观察到明显变化。以审判为中心改革的实际效果有限。究其原因,在以案卷为中心的审判认知结构和副卷集中反映的判决权威结构未发生根本性改变的情况下,改革的实际空间十分有限。深化以审判为中心改革,需要解决好以两卷问题为代表的审判认知结构和判决权威结构的问题。为重塑审判认知结构,需要弱化案卷在审判中的作用,强化被告人的对质权;为重塑判决权威结构,需要合理确定院庭长的审判监督与法官依法独立公正履行审判职责之间的界线。以审判为中心改革的深入推进,会引发审前阶段的连锁反应,客观上强化检察机关指导和控制侦查人员取证行为的合理需要。目前检察机关内部的捕诉一体化改革是这种诉求的反映。然而,满足这种需要的正确路径应当是加强侦诉一体化。

The Reform of Trial-Centered Litigation: Effects,Bottlenecks and Way Out

By sampling judgments of disputed criminal cases tried by courts at basic level in 2018 and 2014, and making comparative survey in a series of core indicators, it was discovered that, after the reform of trial-centered litigation was initiated 4 years ago, in such core indicators as the rate of witness or expert appearing in court, no distinct improvement was observed when comparing the data of 2014 and the data of 2018, the indicator of defense being the only exception. The actual effects of the reform are very limited. That is because the cognitive structure of trial centering on dossier and the authority structure of decision making reflected by the duplicate dossier have not altered radically, the actual room for the reform is very limited. In order to deepen the reform of trial-centered litigation, the problems in cognitive structure and authority structure have to be solved. To reshape the authority structure, the right to confront the witness for the defendant has to be reinforced and the role of dossier should be weakened. To reshape the authority structure of decision making, the border between the trial supervision exercised by presidents or heads of courts and the functional duty exercised independently and impartially by individual judges should be determined properly. The pushing forward of the reform will trigger chain reactions in pretrial stage, which presses the reasonable demand of the procuratorate to guide and control the investigation of the police. The ongoing reform of integration of arrest and prosecution reflected this demand. Forever, the proper way to meet the demand is to integrate investigation and prosecution.