Study On Applying Evidence In Criminal Judgement

Evidence is the soul and core of the criminal prosecution, the essence of each stage in the criminal prosecution, such as investigate, prosecute, judge, and so on, is the process of applying evidence in the criminal trial to prove fact through evidence. The evidence and applying evidence is the most important problem in the criminal trial. The major segment in the criminal prosecution of applying evidence, is applying evidence in the criminal trial. There are only a few works on evidence application in criminal procedure in China, and there are even fewer in the process of the criminal trial. In this field, scholars usually separately touch upon the regulation of evidence and standard of proof, or focus on applying evidence in specific cases. The application of evidence is rarely taken as a whole; however, in this thesis, it will be perceived systematically through comparison to figure out an evidence application system in criminal trial that is in line with the judicial practices in China. To ensure the objectiveness and impartiality of criminal trial, the judicial personnel should abide by a certain criteria and regulation in selection and utilization of evidence. However, there are only eight articles concerning criminal evidence in the "Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China", most of which are focused on principles, in lack of operational possibilities and judicial interpretation. The academic community have carried out discussion on related issues but lack systematic study on the usage of evidence in criminal trial. All these facts above affect the selection of the evidence and identification of the truth in cases, damage the credibility of the judgment, hinder protection of litigants'right to sue and enhancement of the judgment efficiency. It has become an urgent task to build up an evidence application system in criminal trial in accordance with the national condition of China to regularize the application of evidence in the process of selection and proof to ensure judicial justice. The article is divided into four parts. Firstly, four principles of applying evidence in the criminal trial should be set up, i.e. evidence judgment, the court trial as the center, protection of human rights and. As for taking court trial as the center, it means the principle of direct examination should prevail, with evidence in letter only as exception. As for the protection of human rights, it refers to the principle that the human rights of the criminal suspect, the defendant and the witness should be emphasized; applying evidence must fit in with rationality. Secondly, the scope to apply the evidence in criminal trial should be identified. One issue is what kind of evidence could be applied, which consists of evidence selection and evidence recognition by judicial process. Evidence selection mainly inspects the correlation and legality of the evidence to identify whether certain evidence could serve in trial. Evidence recognition focuses on authenticity and argumentativeness to make sure whether a single or a group of evidences could serve as basis for the case after going through strict scrutiny of the legal regulation. The other issue is proving fact through evidence, which includes application of specific measures in application of different evidences. Among all the issues, the standard of proof is the most controversial one. Discussion has been carried out on application of controversial evidence in reality, e.g. expert conclusion, deposition, etc. Prospects of expert conclusion in the trial in the future are made, in combination with the newly-issued "Decisions on Management Issues of Judicial Expertizing". Constructive ideas are also put forward concerning the application of deposition in the trial. Thirdly, the principle for evidence application. The principle for evidenceapplication in abroad is mature. The principle for related evidence. The principle of hearsay evidence, the establishment of the principle requires the appearance of key witnesses in court, clarification of the exceptional cases, including the exceptional cases for witness to testify in court and reliable evidence in letter. Besides, the exceptional regulations for former testimony also needs to be formulated. The principle of excluding illegal evidence. In order to prevent inquisition by torture, it is suggested that human rights be protected through revision of "The Criminal Procedures Law of the People's Republic of China". The efforts include interrogation at legal venues, keeping the attorney's right of presence, setting up the system of in-phase recording and keeping quiet. At present, in the judicial reform at many localities of China, the reasonable factor of keeping silence has been included. For example, the "principle of zero deposition"was adopted in the People's Procuratorate in Shuncheng District of Fushun City, Liaoning Province. Setting up the system of evidence discovery to guarantee the application of the evidence.The Principle for Evidence recognition should be restricted with macro principle. At present, trial modes of evidence discovery are being tried out by courts and procuratorates in many localities, forming the classic modes of haijian and shouguang. Advocating the latter one, the author of the thesis believes the major objective of the evidence discovery is to protect the right of the defendant to know the fact. The discovery of evidence could help enhance the court trial efficiency and identify the focus of the trial. The procedures, in case the evidence discovery system is violated, should not be limited in the scope of "major evidence and the copy". Fourthly, the identification of proof standard for criminal trial. In this part, writer compared and analyzed the identification of proof standard for criminal trial between civil law countries and common law countries. Currently, the...