论集体量刑倾向对自由裁量权的塑造

On the Influence of Collective Sentencing Tendency on Judicial Discretion

集体量刑倾向是指,在一定辖区内,法官集体在量刑决策上表现出一致性的量刑规律。集体量刑倾向既可能来源于法官集体基于刑罚目的和司法环境作出的共同理性决策,也可以来源于法官集体基于社会学习的从众模仿。基于对北京市16个基层法院审理的六类刑事案件的量刑实证研究发现,“审理案件的法院不同”能够解释相当一部分的量刑差异,在许多罪名的量刑中,其影响幅度显著大于“审理案件的法官不同”对量刑结果的影响。同时,辖区内的经济社会发展状况、治安形势与司法环境不能解释大多数案件的量刑差异。因此,基于社会学习的从众模仿是形成集体量刑倾向的主要原因。未来的量刑规范化改革需要将关注焦点从个体量刑决策转向集体量刑倾向,突破规制法官个体自由裁量权的单一视角,同时警惕意见环境下法官个体量刑决策的从众压力,以此实现宏观层面的量刑均衡与公正。

Collective sentencing tendency refers to the consistency in sentencing decisions exhibited by a group of judges within a certain jurisdiction.This tendency can arise either from the judges' collective rational decision-making based on the purpose of punishment and the judicial environment or from conformist imitation based on social learning.An empirical study of sentencing in six types of criminal cases handled by 16 grassroots courts in Beijing found that “differences in the courts handling the cases” could explain a significant part of the variability in sentencing.The impact of this factor on sentencing for many types of crimes was notably greater than that of “differences in the judges handling the cases”.Moreover,factors like the economic development status,public security situation,and judicial environment within the jurisdiction could not explain most of the sentencing discrepancies.Therefore,conformist imitation based on social learning is the main reason for the formation of collective sentencing tendencies.Future reforms in sentencing standardization should shift the focus from individual sentencing decisions to collective tendencies.This shift requires breaking through the singular perspective of individual judges' discretion,being wary of the conformist pressure in judicial subcultures,and aiming to achieve macro-level sentencing balance and justice.