Research On The Precision Of Sentencing Recommendations For Plea And Punishment Cases

The 2018 Criminal Procedure Law establishes leniency for guilty pleas and punishment acceptance as one of the basic principles of criminal proceedings in our country and affirms the achievements of the previous pilot reform for the system of leniency for guilty pleas and punishment acceptance.In order to promote the application of the system of leniency for guilty pleas and punishment acceptance in judicial practice,the Guiding Opinions on the Application of the System of Leniency for Guilty Pleas and Punishment Acceptance have been issued in succession.The Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China,which came into force as of March 1,2021,stipulates the operating procedures for cases involving guilty pleas and punishment acceptance.In our country,no matter in the legislative level,in the judicial practice,or in the criminal litigation field,the system of leniency for guilty plea and punishment has been put into high attention.This paper intends to study the issue of precise sentencing recommendations is the key to effectively promote the case of guilty plea and punishment acceptance.Refining sentencing suggestions,and procuratorial organs shall make great efforts to put forward accurate and definite sentencing suggestions for cases involving guilty pleas and punishment acceptance.The accuracy of sentencing suggestions includes the clarification of principal penalties,supplementary penalties and methods for executing penalties,and the ability to meet the defendant’s expectations for the results of guilty pleas and punishment acceptance.The key to the precise sentencing proposal lies in the equal consultation and dialogue between the accused and the defender on the issue of sentencing.For cases involving guilty pleas and punishment acceptance,as the accused pleads guilty and accepts punishment,the focus of the cases has shifted from conviction to sentencing,with key factors such as sentencing facts,sentencing evidence and circumstances of sentencing becoming the focus of attention of the prosecutor and the defender.In the negotiation on sentencing,the procuratorial organ shall,after fully listening to the sentencing opinions of all parties including the accused,the defender or the duty lawyer,and the victim and his agent,sign an affidavit on plea of guilty and punishment acceptance in the presence of the defender or the duty lawyer,if they reach an agreement thereon after negotiation with the accused.The sentencing result determined in the precise sentencing proposal is the confirmation of the defendant to the result of his case in the substantive leniency procedure,and the defendant makes a decision of self-interest after considering both guilty plea and leniency.Precise sentencing suggestions help the accused to plead guilty and accept punishment voluntarily,promote the agreement of sentencing between the prosecution and the defendant,and to a certain extent,realize the justice and justice of criminal procedure.The application rate of precise sentencing proposals in judicial practice is increasing continuously,which makes the adoption rate of sentencing proposals in the cases of guilty pleas and punishment acceptance by the people’s court also increases.Procuratorial organs play a leading role in the cases of guilty pleas and punishment acceptance by day,and the construction of the duty lawyer system is gradually perfected.But the analysis of the actual situation of judicial practice found that there are still problems in the application of sentencing recommendations.Negotiations on sentencing have become barriers to the accuracy of sentencing proposals,such issues as inadequate voluntary guarantee for the accused,misplaced role of duty lawyers,excessive protection of trial authority by the people’s courts,non-standard procedures for proposing sentencing proposals,and the ways and means to formulate sentencing proposals,which need to be resolved urgently.The application of any system is in the process of discovering and solving problems,and the accuracy of sentencing recommendations is also difficult to achieve overnight.In cases involving guilty pleas and punishment acceptance,the precision of sentencing suggestions shall be achieved.There is still room for improvement in such aspects as the unification of sentencing norms,the cascade lenient sentencing methods,the improvement of the sentencing consultation system,the protection of the rights of the accused,the effective participation of duty lawyers,and the reasoning on sentencing suggestions.