Investigation On "Leaving Room For Verdict" In Criminal Procedure Field

As a special judicial method,“leaving room for verdict” exists widely in cases which are complex or have insufficient evidence that has caused a lot of misjudged criminal cases.It is a violation to “in dubio pro reo” and “the presumption of innocence” essentially when a defendant is convicted in cases which have insufficient evidence or whose facts are not clear.The conflicts between “leaving room for verdict” and the purposes to punish crime and to protect people of Criminal Law in our country still exist although there is no stipulation of “the presumption of innocence” in our country's Criminal Procedure Law.Misjudged criminal cases have attracted much attention through rapid spread of news media,in general,people would think the mistakes resulting from the people's court when they know the causes and processes of the cases from news,and the judges will be held accountable for the misjudged criminal cases at the same time.Although the people's court should take main responsibility for “leaving room for verdict”,we found the independent jurisdiction of our people's court conferred by the constitution was affected in many aspects under our country's political system,such as instructions from party committee,government and Politics and Law Committee,pressure of requesting conviction from public security and procuratorial organs,and unreasonable attacks from victim's family,public and news media.So analysis on the reason of “leaving room for verdict” can not be limited only to the people's court which is a internal reason,it should extend to the range of public security,procuratorial organs,Politics and Law Committee,victim's family,public and news media,which are external reasons.After investigation on connotation,theoretical classification and causes of “leaving room for verdict”,the theoretical conflicts between “leaving room for verdict” and three legal concepts “the presumption of innocence”,evidentiary adjudication,the true circumstance on the case are discussed in this paper.Based on the three legal concepts mentioned above,the illegality and conservatism of “leaving room for verdict” was criticized here.Then the necessity and the processes to eliminate this kind of judicial method are also discussed.To construct better legal environment,establish and improve society ruled by law,enhance people's legal faith,“leaving room for verdict” must be eliminated both in conviction and sentencing little by little.