正当防卫的证明责任分配误区及其纠正

Misallocation of Burden of Proof for Justifiable Defense and Its Correction

正当防卫认定困难与司法实践中将正当防卫的证明责任交由被告方承担密切相关。而司法实践中之所以出现这一现象与刑事法理论研究中存在的两个误区紧密相连:一是将犯罪论体系作为证明责任分配的依据;二是过分强调刑事诉讼的效率价值。就前者而言,犯罪论体系主要作为一种刑法规范的解释理论而存在,它不具有证明责任分配的功能。就后者而言,过分强调刑事诉讼的效率价值,将正当防卫的证明责任交由被告方承担,违背了法律公平、公正的基本要求。鉴于我国以职权主义为主的刑事诉讼模式的特点,被告方不应承担正当防卫等正当化事由的证明责任。同时,还应强化法院的调查取证权和检察官的客观义务,从而有利于正当防卫的准确认定。

The difficulty of Identification of justifiable defense is closely related to the fact that the burden of proof is entrusted to the defendant in judicial practice. This phenomenon is closely connected with two misunderstandings in the theoretical research of criminal law: one is to use the system of criminology as the main basis for the distribution of burden of proof;the other is to overemphasize the efficiency value of criminal procedure. As far as the former is concerned,the criminal theory system is mainly an interpretation theory of criminal law norms,which does not have the function of distribution of burden of proof. As for the latter,overemphasizing the efficiency value of criminal procedure and leaving the burden of proof of justifiable defense to the defendant will violate the basic requirements of legal justice. In view of the characteristics of China’s criminal litigation model based on authority,the defendant should not bear the burden of proof of justifiable defense. At the same time,in order to ensure the accurate Identification of justifiable defense,the court’s power to investigate and collect evidence and the prosecutor’s objective obligations should also be strengthened.