Research On The Criminal Defendants’ Pledge Rights

The establishment of a new trial-centered litigation system is one of the goals to be achieved by continuously deepening the reform of the judicial system.Clarify the direction of substantive reform of court hearings,highlight the central position of trial procedures,and emphasize the procedural rights of defendants as the direction of continuous efforts.As a basic procedural right,the defendant’s pledge right has been fully established and guaranteed in the legal systems of many countries,and has also been correspondingly stipulated in relevant international treaties.However,examining China’s criminal procedures,the defendant is not legally granted the right to confront unfavorable witnesses in court,resulting in an asymmetry in the legal status of the prosecution and defense,and is not conducive to substantive protection of the defendant’s procedural rights.As a method of finding out the truth of a case,confrontation is generally a form of face-to-face questioning between the two parties.From the perspective of rights protection,the pledge as a basic human right of the defendant refers to the defendant’s right to conduct confrontational questions about witnesses who are unfavorable to him.In the context of criminal proceedings,it is generally believed that the pledge of rights is mainly composed of three elements:the right to be present,face-to-face.and the use of words to cross-examine evidence.Guaranteeing the defendant’s right to pledge has the dual value of theory and practice,which is conducive to meeting the requirements of clarifying facts,realizing substantive justice and procedural justice,and promoting the smooth progress of the substantive reform of criminal trials.In the US legal system,the cross-examination rule is a relatively important rule in the pledge and constitutes the basic element of the defendant’s pledge.Germany,on the other hand,uses the principle of direct speech to achieve court confrontation and protect the litigation rights of the parties.In China’s criminal legal system,witnesses appearing in court to testify and special protection of witnesses have laid the foundation for the development of the trial confrontation procedure,and the relevant judicial interpretations stipulate that in cases where there are multiple defendants,co-defendants may be summoned for on-court confrontation,and within the scope permitted by the presiding judge,the defendants may ask each other questions,and the scope of application of the cross-examination rules has also been broadened to witnesses.victims and other subjects.In view of the problems in judicial practice,such as the low rate of witnesses appearing in court to testify and the lack of attention to the procedures for cross-examination in court trials.the next step is to first clarify the conditions under which witnesses should appear in court to testify,strengthen witness protection and economic compensation,and ensure that witnesses appear in court to testify as a smooth channel for the defendant to carry out the pledge.Establish a legal system for defendants in China to pledge rights,clarify the rights and obligations of all parties,supplement and improve the scope of application,conditions for initiation,and specific rules and procedures for the pledge procedure,and increase the ability of litigation subjects to present and cross-examine evidence.Finally,improve the defendant’s supporting procedures for the pledge,through improving the pretrial conference and evidence disclosure system,set relevant exception clauses for the defendant’s pledge,and establish a remedy procedure for infringing the defendant’s pledge to fully ensure the good operation of the defendant’s pledge.