法典化制度下刑事判例的制度功能

The Institutional Function of Penal Precedents under Codification System

在法典化制度下,建立一种与自身法律制度相适应的刑事判例制度并不会与罪刑法定原则相冲突,相反,它反而可以保证刑法解释的客观性和法律适用的统一性,在增强刑法的社会适应性的同时,维护刑法的安定性价值。在法典化制度下,刑事判例虽然不具有等同于法律的拘束力,但作为刑法解释的一种规范化模式,刑事判例对司法活动具有导向性的说服力。通过该制度,刑法的确定性与灵活性有可能得到兼顾,司法知识获得自我积累和发展的机会,并为立法活动提供丰富的资源。

Under the system of codification, the establishment of a regime of penal precedents corresponding with one＇ s own legal system does not conflict with the principle of legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime. On the contrary, it can guarantee the objectivity of the interpretation of criminal law and a unified application of law, and maintain the certainty of criminal law while enhancing the social adaptability of criminal law. Under the system of codification, although penal precedent does not have the same binding force as compared with that of law, yet acting as a normalized mode of the interpretation of criminal law, it guides, to some extent, judicial activities persuasively. Through the regime of penal precedents, consideration may be given to both certainty and adaptability of criminal law, judicial knowledge can be accumulated and further enriched, and it in turn, can provide legislative activities with a wealth of resources.