The Standard Of Proof In The Case Of Confession And Acceptance Of Punishment In Exchange For Leniency

In November 2016,Supreme People's Court,Supreme People's Procuratorate,issued the "implementation of the pilot project on confession and the system of acceptance of punishment in exchange for leniency in Criminal Cases in selected districts" jointly.As a result,the system of confession and acceptance of punishment in exchange for leniency as a new measure of criminal justice reform is heating up.However,there are controversies about whether the proof standard can be properly adjusted for conviction both in theory and in practice.The leading theory is that we should still adhere to the statutory proof standard strictly,and some scholars and practitioners advocate that we can appropriately lower the standard of proof.The author believes that it is necessary and feasible to appropriately lower the standard of proof in certain types for conviction.It is undeniable that the defendant's guilty plea has indeed led to the weakening of confrontation between the prosecutor and the defense.For a long time,the judicial system has caused unnecessary harassment in pursuit of objective truth ideally and optimistically,and lowering the standard of proof for guilty plea is quite necessary.Of course,the lowering of the standard of proof does not mean giving up the protection of the defendant's rights and interests.On the contrary,for minimizing the probabilities of wrong cases,it is necessary to design and improve a series of systems to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the defendant.Most importantly,we have to make sure that confession made by the defendant is voluntary.The cases with guilty plea have congenital advantages over the non-guilty cases.The obtain of confession is more convenient.If we can make sure that the defendant's confession is voluntary,we will believe that confession is more likely veritable.It is an effective method to improve the value of oral confession with ensuring the authenticity of confession.As for the system designed to guarantee the willingness of confession,we can learn the plea bargaining from the U.S.and confession negotiations from Germany,perfecting the duty counsel system,protecting the defendant's right to repentance,and so on.Of course,the lowering of the standard of proof with guilty pleas does not mean that a judge can verdict without the inner conviction or on reasonable suspicion.The object of lowering the proof standard should only be limited to the objective aspects—reducing the degree of Cross-Validation.That means although various types of evidence cannot yet be established to a high Cross-Validation degree,the investigators still can build inner conviction that the defendant has committed crimes relying on years of experience and common sense in the case with guilty plea.The requirement of the proof standard at the objective aspect can be appropriately reduced without having to achieve a high level of proof.Only the key facts of the crime need to be proved by evidence,other facts can be summarized,like time of the crime,the process of arriving at the crime scene,the details of the crime,etc.The lowering of the proof standard with guilty pleas is not applied to all criminal cases regardless of circumstances.Instead,it should be based on the punishment standard,the complexity of the case,and the social repercussions.In case with guilty plea of possible under three years of imprisonment,the value of the confession can be raised,the requirement for Cross-Validation degree can be reduced.There is no need to investigate other unimportant facts,like the tools,disposal of stolen goods,etc.In case with guilty plea of possible over three years of imprisonment,the traditional standard of proof should be adhered to in principle;In case with guilty plea that may be sentenced to death or life imprisonment,strict proof standard should be adopted,and the evidence must be exact,sufficient,and beyond reasonable doubt.Because the deprivation of the defendant's rights is weighty in the case that may be sentenced to death penalty or life imprisonment,especially when life is irreversible,the execution of the death penalty is fatal to a person.It cannot be remedied when the error occurs.We've got to consider carefully in these cases.