An Empirical Study On Appeals By Defendants In The Cases Of Leniency Of Confesssion And Punishment

The newly amended Criminal Procedure Law adopted in 2018 formally establishes the "leniency system for confessions and punishments " as an important principle of criminal procedure.The "leniency system for confessions and punishments " is based on the premise that the defendant pleads guilty to a fine,with leniency in substance and simplicity in procedure,with the aim of enhancing the efficiency of criminal proceedings while ensuring fundamental justice,so as to achieve a higher level of unity between the fight against crime and the protection of human rights.However,in practice,there are often cases where the defendant voluntarily pleaded guilty and punished before the first instance verdict,and the court of first instance gave the defendant a correspondingly lenient punishment based on the facts and evidence of the case as well as an agreement on guilty plea and punishment acceptance,but the defendant still appealed against the verdict after the first instance verdict.This has led to discontent in both academic and practical circles about the abuse of the defendant’s right to appeal in plea-bargained cases,and has led to a discussion on whether the defendant’s right to appeal should be restricted.The article begins with a review of the different theoretical views on the right of appeal from the perspective of the theoretical controversy between jurisprudence and legal practice.Then,1004 cases were selected from the website of the Chinese Judicial Documents for a period of one year,in which the defendants appealed after pleading guilty and pleading guilty,and the article focuses on the "grounds of appeal","resisting and withdrawing" and "the outcome of the second trial".The empirical analysis was carried out in the areas of "reasons for appeal","protests and dismissals" and "outcomes of second instance court decisions".The following problems were identified: the defendant’s tendency to abuse the right to appeal for personal gain by taking advantage of the principle of "no increase in sentence on appeal";the defendant’s appeal without new facts and evidence is likely to trigger a protest by the procuratorate,which undermines the stability of the system;the inconsistent position of different courts in dealing with the procuratorate’s protest arising from the defendant’s appeal.The inconsistent stance of different courts in dealing with appeals by defendants and thus protests by the procuratorate has led to confusion in the scale of adjudication.The main reason for the above problems is that the newly introduced plea-bargaining system has produced certain friction and contradiction with the original appeal system in practice.Secondly,on the basis of examining the provisions of the plea bargaining system in the United States,Germany and Taiwan Province of China regarding the defendant’s right to appeal and the actual situation,the following rules were drawn: reasonable restrictions on the defendant’s right to appeal are in line with the law of criminal justice development,but at the present stage,China’s right to appeal cannot be negotiated away;at the same time,it is necessary to strengthen the institutional guarantee of the defendant’s voluntary plea of guilty and punishment,etc.Finally,synthesizing the current actual situation in China and the experience of comparative law,in order to further improve the " leniency system for confessions and punishments",to a certain extent to limit the defendant’s abuse of the right to appeal without reason,while ensuring that the defendant who really needs relief above the right to appeal is not deprived,the article proposes that the defendant’s right to appeal in plea leniency cases should be fully reserved,the construction of the appeal review system.The article proposes that a system of appellate review should be constructed while retaining the right of appeal for defendants in plea-bargained cases.The content of the appellate review is the grounds of appeal itself,not involving factual and legal issues other than the grounds of appeal,and the review is not limited to confirming whether the appeal has a clear and specific statement of reasons,but,more importantly,should focus on whether the grounds of appeal belong to circumstances other than obvious failure to establish,to ensure that the appeal has a certain degree of predictability.The three main types of appeals,namely "conviction","sentencing" and "procedural",are also examined in different ways.At the same time,under the appellate review system,in order to promote the protection of the rights of defendants in plea-bargained cases,the prosecutor’s office should limit to the maximum extent possible the protest against the defendant’s appeal;the system of informing defendants of their rights and the court review system should be improved,and the system of duty lawyers should be further strengthened.