未成年人犯罪刑罚适用区域性考察及其罚则改革研究(上)

Regional Research into Punishments on Juvenile Delinquent and Reform of Principles of Punishment in Juvenile Justice(First Part)

对云南省若干地区的实证考察表明,在未成年犯罪人的刑罚适用中存在诸多问题,例如,有期徒刑适用过多,管制、拘役刑基本空置;缓刑适用比例过低且存在很大的地区差异,司法分流的合法性有待确认等等。造成上述问题的原因很多,既有立法方面的,如立法不明确或缺乏弹性;也有司法或执法方面的,如考察机关负担过重,无力进行有效考察;还有地方因素的干扰,如过分强调刑罚的威慑作用等。为此,要解决上述问题,必须从立法、司法与执法三方面着手。在立法上须根据《联合国儿童权利公约》规定的确保未成年人最大利益的原则行事,增加处罚中的弹性规范;增设已在国内外被证明行之有效的某些刑罚制度,例如,缓诉制度、缓缴罚金制度、刑事前科报告免除制度、前科消灭制度等;在司法与执法中,应完善相关机制以扩大缓刑等制度的适用范围,并采取有效措施,加强部门合作,消除地区差异。

Empirical research in Yunnan province discloses various problems in application of punishment on juvenile delinquent,e.g.overuse of imprisonment,low rate of probation and inappropriate regional discrimination and absence of legislative confirmation of judicial diversion.Causes can be simply classified into three categories:legislative cause such as rigidity in relative provisions,judicial one such as burden of police in charge of surveillance is too heavy to effectively fulfill its duty and regional one such as too much emphasis on deterrence of punishment.Therefore,countermeasures should be taken accordingly both in legislation and justice,e.g.to provide principles of punishment favorable to juvenile delinquent and criminal systems proven effective abroad such as abolition of crime record,perfect mechanisms in juvenile justice in order to extend application of systems such as probation and take steps to strengthen cooperation among related bureaus and eliminate regional discrimination.