The Research On Judges' Power Of Investigating And Taking Evidence

A Judge's right to investigate refers to the right to find out the disputed facts of the case based on the parties or authority, in order that the litigation activities will be carried out smoothly. The rights can be classified into two types which are the rights to investigate during and before or after the trial, according to the time of investigation. In the judicial practice of our country, the most typical right of judges is the right to investigate before or after the trial in a criminal public prosecution. This paper is to discuss mainly the investigation activities out of court in a criminal case. The judge's investigating mentioned in the text refers only to the one which happens out of court. With the development of the judicial system abroad, the study of judges' rights to investigate becomes more. There are the parties-central mode in Britain and the United States, the authority-central mode of France and Germany, and the mixed mode like Japan and Italy. Different systems of investigation right reflect different evaluation standards of value, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. The key is to find a most suitable system of judges' investigation for the country. The 1979 Code of Criminal Procedure and 1996 Code of Criminal Procedure stipulate differently for the right of judges' investigation, and they are also different from the Code of Criminal Procedure in Germany, France, Japan and Italy. To some extent, the current system of judges' right of investigating is reasonable and of realistic value to life, but there are also a variety of problems in its judicial practice, and there are some drawbacks exposed from the theoretical analysis of law. We must improve our system of judges' investigating powers. First of all, A principle that the judges' investigating power is limited must be established. Then we can establish a new system of judges' investigating power by the five aspects of how to start, the methods and means of investigation, the scope of investigation, effectiveness of evidence and legal liability.