我国刑事诉讼简易程序改革思考

On the Reform of the Summary Procedure of Criminal Justice in China

在我国的刑事诉讼中,已经存在简易程序和普通程序简化审,这两种方式在司法实践中发挥了重要作用,也存在一些问题,如审前程序简化不足、简易程序种类单一、简易程序中律师帮助不足等。我国刑事诉讼可以采取多种方式简化诉讼程序,如设立治安法院快速处理刑事案件、采用辩诉交易等。刑事诉讼简易程序必须有正当程序作为保障,被告人的一些重要权利应当得到保障,特别是:无罪推定、得到律师帮助的权利、不被强迫自证其罪等。

The summary procedure of criminal justice means to apply simple approaches in criminal justice. In China there are two such procedures, i.e. the summary procedure defined in the Criminal Procedure Law, and the simplified procedure of the conventional criminal procedure. They have played important functions in criminal justice. However, the summary procedure has some problems as well. Especially, the pre-trial procedure is not simple enough; the methods are too few to meet the needs; and the defendants are short of assistance of lawyers. China may adopt more approaches of summary procedure in criminal justice, e.g. to establish the ＂Justice of Peace Court＂ in communities dealing with criminal cases quickly, and plea bargain to reduce the burdens of all participants. The principles of due process of law should also be ensured in summary procedures. The defendants＇ rights should be guaranteed in terms of assistance of lawyers, presumption of innocence, not being forced to give evidence which may incriminate themselves, etc .