“终身监禁”的困境释读与司法改善——以刑事政策和刑法的体系化适用为视角

Interpretation of the Predicament of Life Imprisonment and Judicial Improvement:From the Perspective of Systematized Application of Criminal Policy and Criminal Law

我国《刑法修正案(九)》新增的“终身监禁”制度之所以陷于诸多理论争议与实践困境中,虽然有立法方面瑕疵的因素,但局限于刑法内部视角释读本制度的性质和功能,并孤立片面地理解和适用刑法关于本制度的立法规定,应是其中的基本症结所在。基于本制度的“刑事政策刑法化”背景和刑法规定的“体系化存在”现实,将本制度置于刑事政策视野下予以释读和将其立法规定置于相应体系中予以理解和适用,应在很大程度上可以释解其争议与破解其困境。具体而言,在刑事政策视角,本制度只不过是兼顾当前“严厉治腐”政策与“慎用死刑”政策而不得已采取的过渡性治理措施;在刑法的体系化适用视角,因本制度立法规定仅为整个刑法体系和刑罚体系及制度中的一个部分,应将其融入刑法中所有相关条文当中予以理解和适用,以消解本制度与刑法总则上的刑罚体系和量刑制度等的适用冲突。

Besides some legislative flaws,the reason why the new system of life imprisonment added by the Criminal Law Amendment IX is trapped in many theoretical disputes and practical dilemmas lies in that interpretations are limited in the nature and function of the system from the internal perspective of the criminal law and that the understanding and applying of this system is one-sidedly and exclusively.Based on the background of the criminalization of criminal policy of this system and the reality of systematic existence of criminal law provisions,the interpretation of this system from the perspective of criminal policy as well as the understanding and application of its legislative provisions in the corresponding system could,to a large extent,explain its disputes and solve its dilemma.Concretely speaking,from the perspective of criminal policy,the system is just a transitional governance measure that has to be taken in consideration of the current severe anticorruption policy and cautious use of the death penalty policy.From the perspective of the systematic application of criminal law,because legislative provisions of this system are only one part of the whole criminal law system and penalty system,we should understand and apply them by integrating them in all relevant provisions of the criminal law in order to remove the application conflicts between this system and penalty system and the sentencing system of general part of criminal law.