Research On Social Investigation Report ——From The Perspective Of Evidence Law

The prototype of the social investigation system for juveniles originated in the United States in the first half of the 19 th century.With the development of the concepts of national parental rights,individualized penalties,and education penalties,the social investigation system for minors has gradually been accepted by the legislation of various countries in the world,and has become an important part of the juvenile justice system in various countries.The amendment of the Criminal Procedure Law in 2012 formally established this system in a standardized manner.In the following years,the theoretical community was keen to analyze the basic content of the social survey system from the perspective of system design;the practical realm explored,summarized,and basically formed a set of system operation modes that adapt to local conditions.In this process,both theoretical and practical circles have produced relatively rich research results.However,there are still some theoretical controversies that need to be clarified.Since the social investigation report of juveniles serves as the carrier of the whole process of social investigation,the research perspective on this issue can be transformed from the system design itself to social investigation report which is taken as main line.The social investigation system for juveniles means that in the criminal proceedings of juveniles,a professionally-qualified social investigation subject conducts a comprehensive investigation into the juvenile ’s growth experience,criminal causes,post-criminal performance,and educational aids.And according to the concluding observations formed by the investigation,that is,the social investigation report.Regarding the social investigation report,the academic disagreement is concentrated on its legal attributes,mainly including three viewpoints: evidence theory,reference theory and compromise theory.Based on this,there are also different opinions on other extended issues such as the rules of evidence and review and judgment.For this reason,this article uses the social investigation report as a clue to respond to the disputes on the legal nature of the social investigation report,put forward the views of this article,and on this basis elaborate the theoretical and practical issues such as the main points of the review judgment.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this article has three parts.The first part of this article introduces the overview of the social investigation report,including the concept and basic content of the social investigation report.The origins of social investigation reports and social investigation systems,and the general evolution of social investigation systems in China.Taking the issuance of several normative documents with benchmarking significance as the time node,the change course of the social investigation report can be divided into three development stages from 1985 to 2000,2001 to 2010,and 2010 to present.The second part of this article discusses the legal attributes of social investigation reports,that is,whether the social investigation reports belong to evidence,and the types of evidence,attribute of evidence.This article believes that the social investigation report is evidence,and the social investigation report should not be simply classified into any kind of evidence,and it is integrated evidence and sentencing evidence.The third part of this article explores the review and judgment of social investigation reports.Examination and judgment are the guiding content focused on details and operability formed under the influence of existing evidence rules.The review of social investigation reports should use a combination of formal and substantive examinations.There are four contents to be reviewed in terms of evidence qualification: whether the subject of social investigation has the right to carry out investigation,and whether the investigators have the corresponding qualifications;whether the accompanying supporting materials are true;whether the facts of the investigation report are objective;whether the analysis and formation process of the investigation conclusion is logical and scientifically reliable.The evaluation of certifying power focuses on two issues,namely,what criteria are used to judge,and how the judgment results are related to the overall case facts.The essence of a social investigation report is a kind of social judgment.Only by transforming social judgment into legal judgment,can we truly realize the preset function of social investigation in criminal procedure.This article starts from the specific disputes in judicial application,interprets the social investigation report from the new perspective of evidence law and re-understands the social investigation system for juveniles behind the report.