论作为死刑替代措施的终身监禁

Life Imprisonment without Parole as an Alternative to the Death Penalty

我国《刑法修正案(九)》首次在贪污贿赂罪中设立了终身监禁制度。从世界范围来看,美国将终身监禁的设立作为减少死刑的必要措施,而欧洲从一开始就否定了终身监禁存在的合法地位。在国际法上,终身监禁一直处于灰色地带。在刑罚目的上,终身监禁违背了改造和回归社会的特殊预防目的,无明显的一般预防功能。在具体的刑事执行问题上,终身监禁催生了罪犯的绝望心理,使得监狱考核机制失效,加重了监狱负担。无论是从功利主义还是从人道主义的立场出发,终身监禁都不宜作为死刑的替代措施。

In China, life imprisonment without parole （LWOP） has been applied to the crimes of corruption and bribery since it was first provided for in the Ninth Amendment to the Chinese Criminal Law. From a worldwide perspective, the United States regards LWOP as necessary measure for reducing the death penalty, whereas Europe has denied its legality from the outset. Moreover, LWOP in international law is also a grey area. LWOP conflicts with the i- dea of rehabilitation and reconciliation and has no obvious deterrent effect. Finally, LWOP cre- ates a sense of desperation in those sentenced to this punishment, thus making motivation sys- tem meaningless, and increases financial burdens of prison administration. From the standpoint of either humanism or utilitarianism, LWOP should not be the regarded as an alternative to cap- ital punishment.