司法鉴定中的无关信息污染:规范、实践与治理

Information Contamination in Forensic Science:Rules,Practices and Governance

理想的司法鉴定,是鉴定人基于检材特征及相关信息的理性决策活动。因此,尽可能多地收集案件信息以防止相关信息丢失,是鉴定人的天然诉求。然而,司法鉴定场域并不只有与鉴定相关的信息,同时还充斥着大量可能导致鉴定出现偏差的无关信息。面对这种信息诉求与信息污染之间的张力,我国现行法律规范和技术标准形成了“承认相关信息正当地位”“独立或非独立多人鉴定”“勘鉴一体”的规范体系,呈现出以原则性条款为主、冲突化程序设置并存的规制样态。基于我国司法鉴定实践的问卷调查发现,现有的规制框架无法有效地阻断无关信息的传播路径,为信息污染提供了空间。为此,有必要明确案件信息的相关性标准,构建以“信息守门人”为核心的程序治理框架,并辅以案件分流机制配套运行。

Ideally,forensic science practice should involve rational decision-making by the examiner based on the features of evidence and task-relevant information.Forensic examiners need to gather extensive information to minimize the risk of overlooking relevant information.However,the forensic environment often includes irrelevant information that can bias the decision-making process.Facing the tension between information demand and information contamination,China's current legal regulations and technical standards have developed a regulatory framework aimed at recognizing the legitimate status of taskrelevant information,conducting independent or non-independent forensic science practice,and integrating the collection and analysis of evidence.This framework is characterized by conflicting procedural settings within general principles.A survey of forensic science practices in China reveals that the regulatory framework does not effectively prevent the exposure of irrelevant information to forensic examiners.Therefore,it is imperative to clearly define the task relevance of case information and establish an"information gatekeeper"procedure supported by mechanisms of case triage.