On The Application Of Proof Standards In Confession Cases

In the process of Chinese current judicial reform,the confession and punishment system is an extremely crucial part,which plays a key role in optimizing the allocation of judicial resources and balancing judicial justice and efficiency.Because of its special features,such as simplified court procedures and low difficulty in certification,the academia has not reached an agreement on the standard of proof in such cases.The fact on whether the standard of proof in such cases can be lowered has become an unavoidable issue in the process of promoting this system.At present,there are two kinds of claims on the standard of proof in guilty pleading.One advocates insisting on the legal standard of proof,while the other advocates lowering the standard of proof in confession cases.The position that the proof standard should be lowered can also be divided into three viewpoints.Firstly,distinguish between basic factual evidence and general factual evidence in a case,and lower the standard of proof for the latter;Secondly,differentiate the litigation procedure in a case,the proof standard can be lowered for the simplified application or speedy procedures.Thirdly,distinguish between the facts of conviction and the quantity of criminals,it can be lowered for the latter.Although these three viewpoints have certain rationality,they all have obvious defects and shortcomings.This article analyzes the operational methods in practice referring to two existing pleading confession cases,and sorts out the different viewpoints of these two positions according to the arguments in the proof of standard in confession cases.Based on the existing theoretical research results and combined with the practice of American plea bargaining and German judicial negotiation,this paper demonstrates that the factual evidence for the entire confession cases is still subject to the application of statutory certification standards.From the perspectives of safeguarding the human rights and litigation rights of the accused,balancing the relationship between judicial justice and judicial efficiency,and optimizing judicial resources and current legal provisions,this paper demonstrates the rationality of adhering to the statutory certification standards.Finally,this paper puts forward some relevant suggestions and measurements for the application of proof standards in defendants' confession cases.The research methods in this paper mainly include literature research and case analysis.Firstly,literature research method.By reviewing existing documents,just such as legal regulations,scholarly works,journals,as well as normative documents on the system of confession in experimental regions,a comprehensive understanding of the application on proof standards in confession cases will be gotten on the basis of carefully studying the related literature.Secondly,case analysis method.By collecting typical confession cases in pilot areas,the paper manages to explore how the proof standards of such cases apply,what the shortcomings of standards are,and how to guarantee the standards in judicial practice.The system has a profound legal basis and realistic foundation in China.The implementation schemes have also been issued in various pilot areas.However,there are still inconsistencies between regulations and practices when it comes to the application of proof standards.Therefore,it's truly necessary to study typical cases in order to explore the reasons for this phenomenon.