The Usage Of Impeachment Evidence In Criminal Proceedings

Impeachment evidence is a kind of auxiliary evidence,which does not directly prove the facts of the case.Impeachment evidence can be classified as auxiliary evidence in the classification of evidence.Different from direct evidence and auxiliary evidence,impeachment evidence aims at witness testimony in court.The impeachment party impeaches the credibility of the witness through five ways: physical and mental defects,prejudice,character,inconsistent statements and specific contradictions.The impeachment evidence is refutable.The impeachment party refutes the credibility of witness testimony by providing impeachment evidence.Impeachment evidence is also supplementary,because the court can not perceive the facts of the case through impeachment evidence.Impeachment evidence only plays a supplementary role in ascertaining the facts of the case.Although the concept of impeachment evidence has not been adopted by our evidence law,the relevant provisions of impeachment evidence still permeate our criminal law.However,the relevant legal provisions of impeachment evidence are relatively few and imperfect,and lack of specific operational supporting measures.Our country only establishes three ways of impeachment evidence in the field of criminal law,which are the prejudice of witnesses,inconsistent testimony and physical and spiritual defects.Moreover,there are still some problems in the standard level of impeachment evidence in our country,such as vague positioning of impeachment evidence,no distinction between substantive evidence and auxiliary evidence.At the practical level,there is a problem of formalization of impeachment in China.The formalization of impeachment is manifested in the formalization of trial and the low rate of witness appearing in court.Anglo-American law system pursues the litigant system model.The prosecution and the defense confront equally in court.Therefore,the Anglo-American legal system has formed a relatively complete impeachment evidence system in the continuous development.Only by summing up the experience of foreign countries can we better promote the development of judicial practice in our country.Our country is a litigation system model based on authority doctrine,but it is also learning and learning from the content of litigant doctrine.Therefore,when we construct impeachment evidence system,we should also look back and forth to the provisions of the continental law system.China's impeachment evidence system is divided into specific system and supporting system construction.Our country should implement the principle of direct speech as the direction of legislation,and relevant judicial interpretations as the guide of subsequent legislation.The basic system construction of impeachment evidence system should first establish the definition of impeachment evidence,the scope of witnesses,the way of impeachment witnesses,the ability of impeachment evidence and the operating procedure of impeachment evidence.The construction of the supporting system of impeachment evidence is mainly through improving the rate of witness appearing in court and constructing the cross-examination system.Improving the rate of witness appearing in court is through improving the system of witness protection,defining the scope of exemption from witness appearing in court and establishing the mechanism of allocating special funds for witness allowance.The construction of cross-examination system is to clarify the order and scope of the interrogation of witnesses and appraisers.