对刑事审判中被告人最后陈述制度的思考

Reflections on the Defendant’s Closing Statement System in Criminal Trials

被告人最后陈述制度是我国刑事诉讼中的一项独立程序,其设置于我国法治文化发展不甚完善的时期。该制度被立法者寄予了相当的期望,力求能实现平衡控辩双方地位、查清案件事实防止错判以及法治宣传教育的理论价值与功能。但是在现今实践中不仅被告人并不积极地行使这一权利,律师与法官也并不重视这一环节。最后陈述制度在实践中的遇冷与我国刑事司法制度的发展存在紧密关联。在这一过程中,辩方诉讼地位的逐步强化,各种制度功能设立的特定化以及职业辩护资源的不断充分都不可避免地影响了最后陈述制度理论功能的发挥。同时,该制度面临的外部运行环境的掣肘以及内部操作规则的不完善也需予以考量。应当考虑契合外部运行环境,适时转变最后陈述制度的定位,并完善其内部操作规则。

Defendant’s Closing Statement system is an independent procedure in China’s criminal procedure,which was set up in a period when China’s rule of law culture was not well developed.Defendant’s Closing Statement system was expected by legislators to play a considerable theoretical value and functional role in China’s criminal procedure,such as the function of balancing the status of the prosecution and defense,clarifying the facts of the case,preventing wrongful judgment,and pub-licity and education on the rule of law.However,in today’s practice,not only defendants do not ac-tively exercise this right,but neither do lawyers nor judges pay attention to this procedure.The neglect of the final statement system in practice is closely related to the development of China’s criminal justice system.In this process,the gradual strengthening of the litigation status of the defense,the specialization of various institutional functions,and the continuous and sufficient professional defense resources have inevitably affected the theoretical function of the final state-ment system.Besides,the constraints of the external operating environment and the imperfection of internal operating rules also need to be considered.Consideration should be given to adapting to the external operating environment,changing the positioning of the final statement system in a timely manner,and improving its internal operating rules.