Discovery And Application Of Adjudication Rules For Similar Cases

Since the implementation of the case instruction system in2010,the spontaneous use of precedents has become an increasingly common phenomenon.There are even certain specific types of cases where the search for similar cases has become an obligation that judges must fulfill in the trial process,and the search for similar cases must be reflected in their trial reports.However,there is no uniform standard on how to determine similar cases and how to discover and apply the rules of decision in similar cases,which makes the role of class case search in achieving uniform application of law and maintaining judicial justice unsatisfactory.The value of the class case is reflected in the embedded rules of decision,which is the soul of a prior precedent.The rules of adjudication in the class case is the concretization of legal rules,a complete class case adjudication rules contain specific types of case facts and legal consequences,which has the special function of limiting the discretion of judges,improving judicial efficiency,making up for the shortcomings of statutory law,and condensing judicial wisdom.Compared with legal norms,the normativity of the rules of class case adjudication does not come from the statutory compulsion,but more from the judicial requirement of pursuing formal justice,the internal unity and coordination of the judicial system,and the reasonableness and justice of the content of the rules.When we want to discover the rules of adjudication in prior similar cases,we need to go through four general steps of clarifying the focus of controversy in the case to determine the general direction,basing on the legal norms,sorting out the typological elemental facts of the case,associating legal evaluation for the elemental facts,focusing on the adjudication ideas and adjudication reasons,and looking at the adjudication rules with or without special additional conditions,in order to have a good grasp of the judicial tendency and the law in similar cases.The four general steps are: the legal evaluation of the facts of the case,the legal evaluation of the decision and the reasoning of the decision,and the special conditions of the decision.In addition,the application of the rules of similar cases also has its own special characteristics,which requires first meeting the basic decision of similar cases,and then using deductive reasoning and analogical reasoning to reach the preliminary conclusion of the case to be decided.In the face of this analysis,discovery and application of the rules of the class case,I believe that we should strengthen the construction and management of the class case data platform,to enhance the rationality of judicial documents,as well as enhance the ability of judges to use the class case thinking.Only in this way,the significance of class cases in judicial practice will be more prominent,and the inherent defects of the law-making system can be made up to a greater extent.The discovery and application of the rules of class case adjudication is undoubtedly a major progress in the process of building the rule of law in China.