A Study Of The Accused’s Testimony System

In modern criminal proceedings,the accused is firstly a party,and secondly,he is also a method of evidence,and the rights and obligations assumed by both are different.To balance the status of the accused as a party and the judicial needs as a method of evidence,the rule of law countries have provided a special system in the law,namely,the accused’s testimony system.The essence of the accused’s testimony system is to accurately distinguish the two roles of the accused and to give more prominence to the accused’s evidentiary methodological role,so as to prevent the situation in which the accused assumes both the role of the subject and the evidentiary methodological role in the trial.The accused’s testimony system has different models in different countries.In common law countries,if the accused chooses to testify,he or she converts to the status of a witness,testifies under oath,and is subject to the obligation to be truthful.In civil law countries,if the accused chooses to testify,he or she still makes a statement as an accused and is not subject to the duty of truth.In China,however,the accused’s testimony system is confusing,and the law actually conflates the requirements of the accused’s evidentiary methodological role with those of the subject of criminal proceedings,which inevitably leads to a conflict of roles.The accused’s testimony system in China shows the phenomenon of "accused-witnessing" where the accused,who should be the center of the trial,has retreated from the center to the periphery,showing the attributes of a witness-like instrument,and is also a "prosecution witness" against himself.The formation of this phenomenon has a variety of reasons,the most fundamental of which is too much emphasis on the litigation concept of substantive truth discovery.At present,China’s accused testimony system has been long-standing problems,in order to comply with the courtroom reform,it is necessary to improve and modify it.Specifically,by drawing on and absorbing advanced rule of law experience from abroad,we should change the concept of litigation,modify the content of the specific system,and improve supporting measures in three areas.Based on this,we should further guarantee the accused’s status as a subject of litigation and implement the principle of presumption of innocence and the principle of not forcing selfincrimination into the legislation and justice of Chinese criminal proceedings.