Study On The Application Of Fire Accident Determination Conculsion In Criminal Proceedings

The Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that "all materials that can prove the facts of a case are evidence" and "material evidence,documentary evidence,audio-visual materials,electronic data and other evidence materials collected by administrative organs in the course of administrative law enforcement and investigation of cases can be used as evidence in criminal proceedings".The fire accident identification conclusion made by the fire rescue agency after the fire accident plays a role in proving the facts of the case in the criminal case caused by the fire,and there is no dispute in its use as evidence in the criminal procedure practice.However,neither the law nor the judicial interpretation gives it the status of "can be used as evidence".At the present,the conclusion of fire accident identification as evidence in China is still in an unclear state.The conclusion of fire accident may be transformed into evidence of civil tort,administrative punishment or criminal cases,and it is impossible for fire rescue agencies to unify their proof standards and proof power to the standards required by criminal proceedings.For example,in the conclusion of "fire caused by electrical line fault",the standard of evidence supporting the conclusion may be very different,so how to apply the conclusion of fire accident for different standards in criminal proceedings has become a problem worth in-depth discussion.According to the current technical standards,there are two ways to identify the conclusion of fire accident,namely,direct identification method and elimination method.If the identification method is selected in strict accordance with the requirements of the technical standards,the direct identification and the sole cause of the fire shall meet the proof standard of "beyond reasonable doubt".However,in the practice of fire investigation,laws and technical norms cannot be fully transformed into working standards,and the choice of identification method is arbitrary.However,the conclusion of fire accident is mostly adverse evidence to the defense,and the defense is in a passive position.No matter in the investigation,prosecution or trial stage,due to the lack of relevant professional knowledge,the relevant case handling personnel will not conduct substantive review of the conclusion of the accident confirmation,leading to the deficiency of substantive review.In order to realize fairness and justice,the conclusion of fire accident identification should be balanced through a strict judicial review system.From a practical point of view,in the Chinese judgment documents website with "fire accident identification letter" as the key word search,involving more than thousands of criminal legal documents of various crimes,except for the conclusion of the fire rescue institutions,the vast majority of them are used as evidence to prove the facts of the case.This also reflects from one side that the conclusion of fire accident identification cannot be conducted through judicial review through administrative litigation,and the review procedure is a mere formality.In the process of entering the criminal trial,when the suspect and the defender questioned the result of the fire accident confirmation,due to the judges lack of relevant professional knowledge,the court basically will not review the conclusion of the accident confirmation substantially.To improve the application of fire accident conclusions as evidence in criminal proceedings from three aspects: on the one hand,we should increase the legal qualifications of fire accident investigators and expand the scope of legal qualifications through legislation;on the other hand,the reference of technical specifications should be strengthened.In addition to the procedures and avoidance stipulated by law,the professional exploration and evidence collection should be clarified by the corresponding technical specifications,and the substantive review of the fire accident conclusions,so as to enhance the effect of substantive review.In addition to meeting the relevant requirements of laws,regulations and administrative rules,technical standards should be introduced,and the identification process should not be ignored in order to review the identification conclusion,or only pay attention to the legal process while ignoring the technical process.On the other hand,we should put an end to the identification of one sentence,explain the logical relationship between the scene investigation,investigation and inquiry,material evidence identification and the conclusion of the cause of fire,the legal system and technical standards of reasoning should be improved,and the rationality of the identification of the conclusion of fire accident should be enhanced.