Typological Studies Of Appeal Issues In Cases With Guilty Plea And Acceptance Of Punishment

As a criminal justice system that has made breakthroughs and innovations in existing procedural procedures,the plea system has achieved many results since its trial implementation to its formal incorporation into law,which is of great significance for alleviating the tension between the limited judicial resources and the growing number of cases.Due to the relatively young nature of the system,some issues have been disclosure in the process of implementation.For example,there are still omissions in the provisions on some procedural matters,especially for appeal issues that are more dispute in practice,and there is no standardized and institutionalized solution,and there is an abuse of the right of appeal.In practice,there are four primary causes for the defendant to appeal in plea cases: the facts or evidence are wrong;the sentence is excessive;the procedural violation or error;and the sentence is kept in the detention center.Similar to this system,the US plea bargaining system,the German criminal consultation system,and the criminal consultation procedure in Taiwan province have imposed certain restrictions on the defendant’s right to appeal.Failure to appropriately limit the application of the right of appeal of defendants in plea cases would run counter to the value of ‘justice first,efficiency first’ in the very beginning of the establishment of the system.Therefore,improving the relevant systems for plea appeal cases should start from the following aspects.First,it is necessary to appropriately limit the defendant’s right to appeal in plea cases,establish a plea appeal review mechanism,and focus on whether the appellant has a legitimate reason.If the review finds that the first-instance case was heard in a criminal expedited procedure,it shall be rejected.If the defendant files an appeal only on the grounds that the sentence is ‘excessively heavy’,the court of second instance shall also reject it during the appeal review process.Second,lawyers should effectively defend themselves in plea cases,reposition the functions of duty lawyers in cases where this system is applied,and enable lawyers to effectively participate in all stages of litigation.The third is to standardize the exercise of the procuratorate’s right to protest against prosecution,and establish a mechanism for reviewing sentencing recommendations in plea cases.The right to recommend sentencing is essentially a right to seek punishment,so whether the procedures for collecting evidence and negotiating a sentencing recommendation are lawful and compliant.On the other hand,improve legislation on the procuratorate’s right to protest in plea cases.