A Study On The Relationship Between Prosecution And Defense Under The System Of Leniency Of Guilty Plea

The 2018 Amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law formally introduced the leniency system of confession of guilt and punishment.The establishment of this system is of great significance and value.It is a concrete system of China’s criminal policy of combining leniency with severity and leniency in confession,which not only reflects the spirit of the policy and is conducive to its thorough implementation;It also adapts to the trend of light punishment of crimes in China,and helps to reduce the pressure of case investigation,improve the efficiency of litigation,and realize the optimal allocation of judicial resources.Because of the introduction of the elements of prosecution and defense negotiation into the leniency system of guilty plea,this puts forward higher requirements for the equality of prosecution and defense,and adds new requirements for prosecution and defense negotiation,which undoubtedly changes the original relationship between prosecution and defense.At the same time,due to the differences in the dominant principles between the leniency system of confession and punishment as a subsystem and the parent system of criminal proceedings as its living environment,and the value conflicts between efficiency and fairness,during the implementation of the system,there have also been certain conflicts,contradictions or differences between the prosecution and the defense,which have exposed the inadequacies of the leniency system of confession and punishment in theory.The establishment of a benign relationship between prosecution and defense is crucial to the implementation and operation of the leniency system of guilty plea,the key to the voluntary guarantee of guilty plea,the fulfillment of "consensus",the impact on the adoption rate of sentencing recommendations,and the necessary prerequisite for the realization of the value of the system.At present,in practice,the imbalance between the status of the prosecution and the defense under the lenient system of confession and punishment is prominent,which is mainly manifested in the unequal legal status,the unequal litigation capacity,the asymmetric information of both parties,and the unequal treatment of the trial organization;The lack of consultation between the prosecution and the defense is mainly reflected in the backwardness of the negotiation concept,the formalization of the negotiation procedure,and the uneven and weak leniency of the negotiation results;In addition,issues such as the conflict between the prosecution and the defense also arise,that is,the conflict between the prosecution and the defense after negotiation,that is,after the prosecution and the defense reach an agreement through the negotiation process under the system of guilty plea and punishment,the agreement result is denied or overturned by either party,and the new contradictions and new problems based on the negotiation result are derived.The relationship between the prosecution and the defense under the lenient system of confession of guilt and punishment needs to form a proper state of equal status,rational confrontation,full negotiation,substantive negotiation,coordination and consensus,and conflict avoidance.Based on these objectives and in view of the appeal issue,this paper mainly puts forward suggestions to improve the relationship between the prosecution and the defense from three major sections.First of all,starting from promoting the balance between prosecution and defense in the system of confession and punishment,from the two dimensions of the legislative concept and the construction of the specific system,examine and improve the leniency system of confession and punishment in the aspects of equal armed forces,equal protection,equal confrontation,and equal cooperation,and balance the status of dual methods of prosecution and defense,litigation ability,and information acquisition ability.Secondly,from the macro,meso and micro levels,it puts forward suggestions to build an effective litigation mode for the prosecution and defense negotiation,clarifying the concept of negotiation,establishing legal principles,and improving specific systems and rules;Finally,start to solve the problem of the conflict between prosecution and defense in the system of confession and punishment,promote the construction of definitive sentencing recommendations,improve the provisions of the right to withdraw the confession and punishment and the appeal mechanism,and optimize the protest mechanism.It should be clarified and corrected in theory,and further supplemented and improved in legislation,so as to gradually solve relevant problems in realization,and promote the benign operation of the relationship between prosecution and defense under the system of confession and punishment.