On Reconstructing The Pattern Of Criminal Retrial Procedure In Our Country

The criminal retrial procedure is a special one to correct the errors in the"res judicata". The currently criminal retrial procedure system in Our Country takes the"principle of seeking truth from facts"and"all wrongs must be corrected"as the guiding idea which pursues substantive justice and emphasizes the error-correcting function. It has certain reason but it is meanwhile one-sided because it neglects that the criminal retrial procedure system should bear other ideas and values too. The modern theoretical principles should include the epistemology of dialectical materialism, the notion about judicial truth and the theory of stability of the procedure and the principle of non bis in idem. The values of the criminal retrial procedure should contain the pursuit of substantive justice, the safeguard of the human rights and persistence of efficiency as well as justice. Good lessons can be learnt by using the legislative experience of criminal suit in the western countries and related areas for reference to reform the criminal retrial procedure system in China. After a close examination to the standing practice of criminal retrial procedure in Our Country, it can be seen that the existing ideas of criminal retrial procedure have been out of date with many defects and shortcomings in the system. The principles of"non bis in idem"and"no heavier punishment should be put in the criminal retrial procedure"should be established in Chinese criminal retrial procedure system. Meanwhile the criminal retrial procedure system should be established as the jurisdiction of the criminal retrial cases should belong to the courts which are at higher levels to the courts of original trial and criminal retrial judgment should be the final judgment. And then the patterns of start-up procedure, judgment and supervision in the criminal retrial procedure system should be reconstructed thoroughly. A code should be put on the related regulations of retrial appeals and the reasons for retrial. A system should be set up to stipulate examination and evidentiary hearing in court, to make the criminal retrial procedure clear, and differentiate that the retrial case is preferential to the prosecuted or not, thus to guarantee the defendants'legal rights, so that the criminal retrial procedure can achieve the unity of between attacking crimes and safeguarding human rights, and the equal attention can be paid to substantive justice, procedural justice and proceeding efficiency.