Study On The Defendant's Closing Statement System

As a The defendant's closing statement system(hereinafter also referred to as "closing statement")is an independent procedure in China's criminal proceedings and one of the oldest procedures in criminal proceedings in New China.From the history of the development of the Chinese criminal procedure legal system and the high similarity with the system design,the Chinese-style closing statement system should originate from the former Soviet Union.In the 1956 Notice of the Supreme People's Court on Printing and Distributing "Summary of Trial Procedures in Criminal and Civil Cases of People's Courts at All Levels",it was required that "after the judge announces the end of the debate,the defendant must make a closing statement." The first Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China in 1979 clarified the closing statement as an independent procedure of court hearings,and the 1996 "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Implementation of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China(Trial)" Detailed rules were provided for the closing statement system,and these rules have been used to this day.The 2014 "Measures of the Supreme People's Court,the Supreme People's Procuratorate,the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice on the Pilot Work of Fast-track sentencing procedures for Criminal Cases in Certain Areas" stipulates that in cases where fast-track sentencing procedures are applied,"the defendant's Final comments ".The core purpose of the closing statement system was to give the defendant an additional opportunity to defend himself,to reflect the protection of the defendant's rights by the law,and to allow the defendant to fully express his opinions to resolve the defendant's dissatisfaction and make him truly confess Serve the sentence.Secondly,it is expected that through the closing statement,the court will be able to further ensure that the facts of the case are found,or that errors of factual understanding are corrected before the judgment.In addition,the closing statement can also have a good trial effect.The defendant's confession and confession can comfort the victim,and can also educate the observers and the public concerned about the case.The development of the closing statement system so far has centered on its legislative purpose and holds a unique position in China's criminal justice activities,while also exposing some problems.Because the content of the closing statement is not limited,the program design is relatively simple,and the performance in practice is more diverse.In the cases where different litigation procedures are applied,and the cases with different causes,the defendant's closing statement has obvious differences.In ordinary procedure cases,the defendant's closing statement differed in length and duration.At the same time,the defendant's negative statement or waiver of statement often occurred.The judge paid little attention to the closing statement.Finally,the function of stating the facts of the case is even more difficult to achieve.This is mainly due to the escalation of criminal investigation methods and the gradual completion of court procedures,resulting in limited content of closing statements.At the same time,defendants rarely get the assistance of defense lawyers or legal helpers in their closing statements,while criminal defendants generally have a low level of education,often do not understand the procedures,and have difficulty organizing fluent language on the spot.In the case of official crimes by state officials,the closing statement is often used for propaganda,but it has formed the impression of “lengthy,repetitive” and “reporting” among the public.After investigation,the length of the closing statement in the duty crimes of state officials is not significantly longer than that in general cases.However,in such cases,the judge rarely intervened in the defendant's closing statement.At the same time,the content of the defendant's statement was indeed similar,the language fluency was also high,and the content of the statement was more in the same time.In the fast-track sentencing procedure,the closing statement was specifically reserved,but the defendant's negative treatment and formalization of the procedure were more serious,and did not play a role in retaining the procedure.Moreover,due to the defendant's negative treatment and the compact and fast process of the fast-track sentencing procedure,the closing statement is difficult to influence the judgment.There are many cases where the fast-track sentencing procedure is applied in which the statements are irregular and invalid.The defendant's closing statement has unique significance in China's criminal justice.As an important channel for the connection between law and love,and an important resource for legal publicity,the closing statement can be in line with the development direction of "taking into account the human rights of the Tianli Kingdom" and "focusing on the social function of punishment" proposed by the Seventh Criminal Trial Work Conference.Finally,it is stated in the new era.There is irreplaceable value in the criminal justice.In order to make full use of the value of the closing statement,the closing statement system should be improved in a professional and refined manner.As the division of labor in court proceedings becomes clearer and the system for discovering case facts becomes more mature,the function of correcting errors in the closing statement system is of no value.This also prevents the law from giving the defendant unreasonable expectations.The judge shall explain to the defendant the closing statement,but shall not interfere unduly with the closing statement.The lawyer should also assist the defendant in procedural understanding,content selection,and language organization before the court.For the fast-track sentencing procedure,the closing statement plays a small role and can be replaced completely.It should adhere to the pursuit of "expedited" in the fast-track sentencing procedure,cancel the closing statement,and pursue the efficiency of the trial.