The Danger, Origin Cause Of Formation And Countermeasure On The Crime Of Extorting Confessions By Torture

Inquisition by torture, a very barbaric means of evidence-gathering in litigation, not only is a tradition of China's litigation system, but also exists in the development history of occidental litigation. It infringes human rights severely, tramples the law's dignity and runs in counter to the judicial civilization. To keep within limits the occurrence of inquisition by torture and confession-extortion is not only the basic requirements of the law but the basic requirements of building a socialistic nomocracy country.This paper is divided into four parts as the following:Part I is a summary of the crime of inquisition by torture and confession-extortion. The author redefines the concept of the crime of inquisition by torture and confession-extortion in this paper by consulting its definition in the criminal law, uniting his own study orientation and emphases, making use of the criminology principles and the comparative research method. Here it means that the tipstaff, in the process of executing the law, adopt methods as corporal punishment, corporal punishment in disguised form or spiritual torture to interrogate the interrogees so as to compel them to confess to committing crimes.Part II analyzes the realistic dangers brought about by the crime of inquisition by torture and confession-extortion from the following three aspects. First, it challenges the protection of human rights. Second, it tramples the law's dignity. Third, it distorts the judicial civilization.Part III anatomizes the causes of the crime of inquisition by torture and confession- extortion from six aspects and points out that the permeation of traditional law culture and the load of social control function are its background condition, that the warp of executing-the-law concept in the prosecutors is the individual factor for its occurrence, that the absence of the rule design for the litigation procedure and the careless omission of the law rules and regulations are the institutional causes of its occurrence, and that the lack of judicial resources is an objective factor for its occurrence.Aimed at the causes of the crime of inquisition by torture and confession-extortion, Part IV probes into the measures of prevention and cure for it from six aspects as the following: converting creatively the traditional law culture and value concept; adjusting the way of social control; rectifying the tipstaff's concept of law-execution and improving their professional quality; regulating and consummating the litigation rules; perfecting the law rules and regulations; and guaranteeing the devotion of judicial resources.