认罪认罚从宽适用常态化之实效检验

Effect Assessment of Normalized Application of the Leniency System for Admitting Guilt and Accepting Punishment

2018年《刑事诉讼法》修改后,认罪认罚从宽制度的适用步入常态化阶段。既有讨论将认罪认罚从宽制度的功能归纳为程序、实体和恢复性司法三个维度。本文基于2016-2021年我国基层法院审理的六类常见案件两百余万份裁判文书,分别评估了认罪认罚从宽制度的个案效果和系统效果,实证结果显示:在程序维度上,认罪认罚从宽显著提升了案件处理的司法效率,但是其在发挥繁简分流、优化司法资源配置方面仍有完善空间。在实体维度上,认罪认罚的被告人总体上获得了“从宽”的处遇,认罪认罚从宽制度在促进轻罪的量刑朝宽缓化方向发展的同时,并没有对重罪案件的量刑产生同样影响,这符合宽严相济刑事政策的应然要求。在恢复性司法维度上,一方面,认罪认罚案件中被害人赔偿、被害人谅解和刑事和解的比例都显著高于不认罪认罚的案件;但另一方面,一些刑事案件中被害人权益保护的整体状况并没有显著改善,未来被害人权益保护仍然应当是认罪认罚从宽制度完善中值得关注的议题。

After the revision of the Criminal Procedure Law in 2018,the application of the leniency system for admitting guilt and accepting punishment has entered a normalized phase.Existing discussions categorize the functions of this system into three dimensions:procedural,substantive,and restorative justice.Based on over two million verdict documents from six common types of cases adjudicated by China's grassroots courts from 2016 to 2021,this paper assesses the individual and systemic effects of the leniency system for admitting guilt and accepting punishment.The empirical results show that first,in the procedural dimension,admitting guilt and accepting punishment significantly enhances the judicial efficiency of case handling,but there is still room for improvement in streamlining procedures and optimizing the allocation of judicial resources.Second,in the substantive dimension,defendants who admit guilt and accept punishment generally receive lenient treatment.The leniency system promotes a more lenient approach to sentencing for minor offenses without similarly affecting the sentencing of serious crimes,which aligns with the criminal policy of balancing leniency and severity.Finally,in the dimension of restorative justice,on the one hand,the proportion of victim compensation,victim forgiveness,and criminal reconciliation in cases of admitting guilt and accepting punishment is significantly higher than that in cases without such admissions.On the other hand,the overall situation of victim rights protection in some criminal cases has not significantly improved.The protection of victim rights should still be a focus in the further development of the leniency system for admitting guilt and accepting punishment.