证据保管链制度研究

Studies on the System of Chain of Custody

证据保管链制度要求建立自侦查阶段收集证据至审判阶段将证据提交法庭的完整记录体系;除少数例外情形,所有接触证据的人员都必须出庭作证。这一制度对规范侦查、起诉人员收集、运输、保管证据等行为,协助法官和辩护方审查判断证据的真伪,都具有极为重要的意义。我国刑事诉讼法只要求对证据的收集进行记录,而不要求对证据的运输、保管、鉴定等也进行记录,更不要求接触证据的人员出庭作证;这对保障实物证据的证明力极为不利。我国在未来立法时有必要借鉴域外经验,建立系统的证据保管链制度。

The Chinese Criminal Procedural Law provides for the procedure of collecting evidence, but it contains hardly any provision on the procedure of transferring, safekeeping or authenticating of evidence. As a result, many cases can not be handled or are handled erroneously due to the inappro- priate safekeeping of evidence. Studies have shown that the problem of safekeeping of evidence and the related problem of forensic evidence have become the second leading cause of wrongful conviction. In order to guarantee the authenticity of real evidences, most western countries have adopted strict rules on the chain of custody, which requires the establishment of a complete system for the recording of the whole process from collecting evidence at the investigation stage to producing evidence in court at the trial stage and that, apart from a few exceptions, anyone who has handled evidence must testify in court as to the transferring, safekeeping or authenticating of evidence. The system of chain of cus- tody plays an extremely important role both in the regulation of the conduct of investigators and prose- cutors in collecting, transferring and safekeeping evidence and in the examination and determination of evidence by judges and the defendants in court. In the future legislation, China should establish a system of rules on chain of custody by drawing on the experienc~ of developed countries： every case handling person who has contact with evidences must strictly follow such rules and make detailed records on circumstances of collecting, transferring and safekeeping of evidence. In cases where the defendant or the judge raises question or doubt about the reliability of a piece of evidence, the persons who have contact with such evidence must testify in court as to the circumstances of collecting, trans- ferring and safekeeping of the evidence.