论报应主义刑罚的积极价值

The Positive Value of Retributionist Criminal Punishment

报应主义刑罚观念是刑法针对已然犯罪行为的应答,这使得它难以产生出面向未来的效果,因此,针对报应主义的批评主要是认为它不具有社会治理的效果,是一种消极的甚至是一种纯粹破坏性的刑罚观念。为了回应这一质疑,必须回归到报应主义的内涵,即一种蕴含着确认公民自由的报应主义刑罚理念。如果为了回应对报应主义刑罚消极性的批评,仅仅考虑报应主义在建构国家与法的合法根据上的积极价值,则将潜藏着维护法之权威优越于确认自由的危险。因此,有必要进入报应主义的另一维度,即从实践具体正义的角度——恢复到一种平等状态,以发掘其积极价值。在这一维度,报应主义刑罚观的价值在于使被害人能够作为一方积极主体参与刑罚基准权的博弈,从而使法对正义的追求不再体现为纯粹的结果性要求,而是一种实践性机制,在这一点上,古老的复仇法则为这种参与提供了值得参考的刑罚价目表。

Retributionist criminal punishment is considered as a response by criminal law to crimes that have already been committed and, as such, can hardly have any effect on the crime situation in the future. So the main criticism against retributionism is that it is a negative, even destructive, idea of criminal punishment that has no social governance effect. To respond to this criticism, it is necessary to return to the original connotation of retributionism, namely a restorative retributionism that confirms civil liberties. However, if, in response to the criticism against retributionism, only the positive value of retributionism in the construction of nation and law is emphasized, there will be a potential danger of upholding the authority of law at the cost of civil liberties. Therefore it is necessary to return to another dimension of retributionism, namely to explore the positive value of retributionism by restoring equality as the core of justice. In this dimension, the greatest value of retributionist concept of criminal punishment lies in allo- wing the victim to participate as an active subject in the game of setting the benchmark of penal- ty, so that the pursuit of justice is no longer considered as a mere demand for the resuh, but a practical mechanism. At the same time the ancient rules of revenge can provide a penalty price list for such participation.