论澳大利亚的刑事陪审制度

Jury System in Australia

澳大利亚的刑事陪审制度正式确立于殖民地时期的新南威尔士,1900年的联邦宪法规定了陪审制度,但陪审法仍然属于各州或地区的立法权范围。澳大利亚的陪审制度继承了英国普通法的传统,属于英美式的陪审团制。陪审适用于可诉罪,不适用于简易罪;陪审团必须具备社区代表性与公正性,前者通过选民名单的随机挑选来实现,后者由回避申请和藐视法庭罪的刑事制裁等程序来加以保障;除了联邦犯罪以外,各州法律允许陪审团做出多数裁决,但有程度不同的、较大的限制;法官对陪审团具有司法指导的职能,如果证据存在高度缺陷,可以指导其做出无罪裁决;对陪审团的有罪裁决可依事实和法律问题进行上诉,理由主要是裁决导致了审判不公以及证据缺乏可靠性可信性等。澳大利亚的刑事陪审制度对我国人民陪审制度的改革和完善具有参考价值。

The jury system was first introduced in the first-established colony, New South Wales of Australia, and it possesses Anglo-American common law tradition. Section 80 of the Commonwealth Constitution provides that trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the Commonwealth shall be by jury,however,the states retain its legislative powers over the process of jury trial. An offence will be tried before a jury if it shall be substantially'indictable'.A jury shall be both representative of the community and impartial,which are ensured by random selection from the electoral roll and by challenges and penal sanctions by the law of contempt of court.The principle of unanimous verdict for the jury is now maintained , yet majority verdicts are authorised by state statutes. As for the tasks of judge and jury,they are demarcated along traditional lines, still the judge may instruct the jury to reder a verdict of not guilty if the evidence is 'unsafe or unsatisfactory'. Besides, appeals against convictions in jury trials may be on matters of fact or law or mixed law and fact, provided they have resulted in a 'miscarriage of justice'or the evidence be 'unreliable or wanting in credibility'.