Reflections On Judicial Consequentialism

The consequentialism of judicial decision refers to the consideration of the consequences of the decision when making the legal decision in the case that the three paragraphs of the law cannot draw a legal and reasonable judgment,and according to the influence that different decisions may have on the society,choose the decision which is most beneficial to the society,so as to rationalize the decision in the process of argumentation.Review the "Xu Ting Case" in 2008,the "Deng Yujiao Case" in 2009,the "Yao Jiaxin Case" in 2011,the "Jia Jinglong Intentional Murder Case" in 2015,the "Yu Huan Intentional Injury Case " in 2017 and the"Guangxi Passion Fruit Girl Murder Case "in 2018,it is not difficult to see that in judicial practice,legalism is slowly giving way to consequentialism.In the face of this phenomenon,many scholars in the field of law have expressed concern.Dr.Wang Lin believes that consequentialism infringes on the rights protected by the rule of law and strongly criticizes that there is no complete and true view of the rule of law in the system of consequentialism,which should be the most severe criticism of the consequentialism.But some scholars have expressed support for this shift in the field of judicial decision-making.What should be the cornerstone of judicial decision-giving?Does focusing on consequences hinder the stability of the law?If the consequences are not considered in the field of judicial adjudication,how will trial practice deal with increasingly complex and difficult cases?If the consideration of consequences is incorporated into the adjudication process,how should its status and limits be defined?These problems,which plague the jurisprudence circles today,have aroused heated discussion.The answers to these questions are also of great practical significance to the development of the rule of law in China today.This paper argues that in the actual judicial judgment,the argument of consequence must be tested and restricted by the consistency of logic and value judgment.Consequential argumentation is a supplement to formal logical reasoning,it can never replace the importance of formal argumentation,and it is still subject to the test of formal logic.In the judgment of consequentialism,the choice of consequences has certain criteria,which must be consistent with the overall value orientation of the legal system.Therefore,in order to prevent judges from arbitrarily overstepping the law in the name of considering consequences in judicial decisions.measures must be formulated so that judges can reasonably predict the consequences of a case and make decisions by applying legal rules to the greatest extent possible.Under the current technical background,the case guidance system and the requirement of sufficient reasoning in the judgment document can adjust the reasons for the judgment and restrain the judge’s subjective and arbitrary choice of the consequences when making a judgment.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,the thesis is divided into four parts:the first part traces the theoretical origin of consequentialism,discusses the dilemma of legalism,Holmes and Posner’s defense of legal pragmatism,and Dworkin’s critique of legal pragmatism;the second part and the third part uses the case empirical analysis method to analyze criminal cases dominated by consequentialism,summarizes the current situation of consequentialism in the field of judicial adjudication,and discusses the possible drawbacks of consequentialism in the development of the rule of law in China;the fourth part,from two aspects of case guidance system and the reasoning function of judgment documents,proposes external and internal measures to restrain the consequentialism of judicial adjudication.