| Along with the modernization and scientific development of the rule of law,over the past few years,China has corrected the case of Zhang Gaoping and Zhang Hui,the Chen Jianyang case,the Zhao Zuohai case,the Wu Daquan case and many other misjudged criminal cases.On the one hand,correction of misjudged cases has restored the rights and reputation of those mistakenly sentenced and made up for their losses to an appropriate extent;on the other hand,it maintained judicial impartiality and authority.Correction of these misjudged cases was like criticisms towards judicial functionaries,judicial duties,and the judicial system.Judicial functionaries should deeply reflect on themselves while accepting such criticisms,finding out the specific causes of misjudgment so as to avoid making the same judicial error again.In fact,the miscarriage of justice in case trial couldn’t be simply attributable to one single reason,or an error in one link or one organ in the proceedings;it was resulted from the system of errors integrating various complex factors,including a series of cognitive and behavioral errors trumade by criminal investigators,prosecutors,and judges in judicial activities.Criminal investigation is the beginning and the source of criminal procedure,the review and examination of which is therefore a top priority of reduction and prevention of criminal misjudgment.The fourth plenary session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC put forward the trial–centered judicial reform,which was driving at the essence of criminal proceedings as substantializing the trial process in the first place.Facts and evidence where the trial is based both come from criminal investigation,the effectiveness of which is naturally the key to the smooth progress of criminal procedure.Advocacy of trial–centrism revealed that criminal investigation was in preparation for the trial,and that 1%error in criminal investigation might lead to 100%error in judgment.Even the slightest change of initial conditions,enlarged by the proceedings step by step,could make an enormous difference in the future state.Professor He Jiahong mentioned in the empirical research on the causes of Criminal Misjudged Cases that the proportion of Criminal Misjudged Cases Caused by the improper behavior of criminal investigation organs is as high as 96%.It can be seen that the inappropriate criminal investigation in the criminal investigation stage is an important cause of criminal miscarriage.From the perspective of the overall justice,it is of great significance to study the criminal investigation errors.Starting from the prevention of misjudged criminal cases,it aimed to draw the attention of the theoretical and the practical circles to errors in criminal investigation,and to make them realize the independence and integrity of such errors as a subsystem of judicial error.In short,the function of studies on criminal investigative errors goes far beyond prevention of criminal misjudgment,and finds a more profound significance in discussion on the content of criminal investigation in itself.Complicated circumstances such as the mixed facts and false statements,and the blurred boundary between true and false in criminal cases could oftentimes lead criminal investigators’sight to the wrong direction,causing criminal investigative errors.A successful criminal investigation process should be one that the subjects of criminal investigation improve and overcome themselves,identify and fix errors in criminal investigation,and finally be able to prevent and surpass such errors.As for the study of criminal investigative errors,the author started from an overview of criminal investigative errors,aiming to clarify the essential content thereof.Then,from a multi-dimensional perspective,the author explored the factors causing such errors to enhance the understanding of criminal investigative errors.In the end,to serve the practice of criminal investigation and to improve the quality of case criminal investigating,the author focused on the arrangement,processing,and deconstruction of information in the investigating circumstances,identified investigative errors and built a model for identification of the same from an informatics perspective;referring to the system theory,the author established a corrective system of criminal investigative errors from three aspects,namely setting up the idea of correcting criminal investigative errors,mobilizing the consciousness and initiative to correct such errors,and integrating non-subjective functions;supported by the control theory,guided by the idea of holistic,process and outcome control,the author finally proposed targeted subjective and non-subjective programs for prevention of criminal investigative errors.This paper is divided into the following five chapters in addition to the introductory part and conclusion part.Its logical relationship is from theory to practice,which combines theory with practice and devotes itself to making theory guide practice.The first and second chapters analyze the criminal investigation error from the theoretical level,which is to make the criminal investigation subject understand the criminal investigation error objectively,admit the criminal investigation error,and rationally realize that the defects of the criminal investigation subject’s cognition,physiology,psychology and professional ability may become the error causing factors of the criminal investigation error.Based on the theory of the first two chapters,the last three chapters discuss the solutions to the criminal investigation errors in practice.They find out the criminal investigation errors from three aspects:identifying the criminal investigation errors,correcting the criminal investigation errors and preventing the criminal investigation errors,eliminate the criminal investigation errors in time and thoroughly,and prevent the criminal investigation errors in advance,so as to realize the legalization and scientization of criminal investigation.Chapter one is an overview of criminal investigative errors,in which the idea of criminal investigative error is defined,and the meta-question of studies on criminal investigative error solved based on characteristics of criminal investigative activities and the understanding of general errors.On top of that,characteristics of criminal investigative errors were further discussed to separate such errors from bearing false witness,issuing false expert opinions and others made by litigant participants:to define the identical relation of generation of criminal investigative errors;to reveal the essence of the inconsistency between cognition and behavior.In this chapter,the relationship between criminal investigative errors and misjudged criminal cases was also clarified,such errors classified,and the field of the same strictly delimited.Chapter two gives a further understanding of criminal investigative errors from the perspective of factors causing such errors.To address such factors and to get as close as possible to the facts,the author returned to the law of cognition and criminal investigation to dig deeper,and found problems with the physical,psychological and occupational characteristics of subjects of criminal investigation,the main factor generating such errors,dominant factors of criminal investigative errors.Other factors,on the other hand,could be concluded as non-subjective factors,including the complexity of the objects of cognition,defects in the criminal investigation system,and technical hurdles shown by the tools of criminal investigation.Chapter three focuses on identification of criminal investigative errors.In this chapter,an identification standard for criminal investigative errors was first established,setting the standard for rules in practice and theoretical models,objective facts and laws and regulations,and rule of thumb and the law of nature from three angles:above,during,and outside of criminal investigation.Secondly,by applying methods for identification of errors in other disciplines to identification of criminal investigative errors,this chapter provided intellectual effort and theoretical response to identification of criminal investigative errors.In the end,a model for identification of such errors was created,and its mechanism demonstrated by examples,thus guiding the practice of identification of criminal investigative errors.Chapter four is on how to correct criminal investigative errors.Correction of criminal investigative errors is the cleaning,fixing,elimination or remediation of past or current errors in criminal investigation,which must adhere to three principles:face up to criminal investigative errors,eliminate such errors in a timely manner,and trace to the source of such errors.After that,errors made should be fixed from subjective and non-subjective aspects.The method of reflective correction by subjects of criminal investigation included man–mistake segmentation,psychotherapy,and mutual aid.The non-subjective aspect is mainly focused on internal supervision of organs of criminal investigation,external supervision outside the prosecution,and constraints among criminal investigation,litigation and trial,all for promoting the smooth execution of criminal procedure.Chapter five works on effective prevention of criminal investigative errors.Criminal investigative errors lead to irreversible damages.For instance,criminal investigative errors in defining the nature of a case,applicable law,analysis of evidence,etc.left uncorrected under criminal procedure might lead to such serious consequences as misjudged criminal cases,or even disintegration of the parties’families—there are truly the unbearable heaviness of criminal investigative errors.It is inevitable to correct criminal investigative errors and make up for the losses;yet compensation afterwards is only helpful on the surface,what we really need to do is to control the errors from the source.Therefore,we should put forward targeted precautionary measures based on analysis of both subjective and non-subjective factors,including improving the quality of criminal investigators,clearing up the complexity of criminal cases,and perfecting the system and related technology. |
