民愤的正读——杜培武、佘祥林等错案的司法性反思

因刑事司法运作的失误致使无罪的人被错误追究刑事责任,是任何一种刑事司法制度和诉讼模式都难以绝对避免的。但是,如果错案的缘起既不是司法人员的一时疏忽,也不是司法运作的偶然偏差,而是基于一种“民愤”的差使,那么,就有必要解读民愤的缘起与扩张,探究民愤的感性与理性,评判民愤的虚假与真实。这是因为,社会公众在认定“犯罪人”的行为是否构成犯罪以及应当重判或轻判上所依据的是感性的道德判断标准,与司法裁判所应当依据的理性的法律标准无疑会存在冲突。

An Authentic Interpretation of People's Wrath: Reflection on Unjust Cases of Du Pei-wu, She Xiang-lin, etc.

It is,unfortunately,inevitable for any criminal justice system or model of proceedings that an innocent person is wrongly held to bear criminal liability because of faulty operations of criminal justice.However,where the cause of an unjust case is neither the casual negligence of the law-enforcement agencies nor the casual fault of adjudication,but the people's wrath,it is necessary for us to consider the incurrence and nursery of the wrath,study its rational and affectional factors and determine its falseness.That is because when the public is "convicting a culprit" or deciding whether he/she should be imposed upon a severe punishment,what they rely on is passionate moral tests that,undoubtedly,contradict with those that a judicature relies upon.