| The system of pleading guilty,accepting punishment and granting leniency in our country combines the simplified procedure of quick judgment procedure and the concept of combining punishment with leniency.It has been five years since it was formally established in the Criminal Procedure Law in 2018.In practice,more than80% of cases have been quickly concluded by applying the procedure of pleading guilty,accepting punishment,and most of them are legal assistance provided by lawyers on duty for suspect and clients.The lawyer on duty should provide legal assistance to the accused and should be effective.Effective legal assistance refers to the legal assistance provided by the on duty lawyer in accordance with professional norms,fulfilling their duties with due diligence,and without obvious errors,in the best interest of the defendant.On duty lawyers should also provide opinions on whether to apply confession and punishment in cases of confession and punishment,based on sufficient interviews and examination papers,and actively negotiate to strive for lenient sentencing.The value of effective legal assistance lies in ensuring the voluntary confession and punishment of the accused,safeguarding their due litigation rights,ensuring the fairness of the accused’s judgment results,and promoting the full coverage of substantive criminal defense.However,in practice,there is a tendency for duty lawyers to become "witnesses" in cases of confession and punishment,as well as issues such as low quality and lack of coherence in legal assistance.The reasons for the above problems are: firstly,there are few legal sources,the legislative level is not high,and the relevant legislation is not sufficient to regulate the duty lawyer system;Secondly,there are deficiencies in the protection of the lawyer on duty’s right to meet,review papers,and participate in sentencing,and the lawyer on duty has insufficient depth of participation in the case;Thirdly,the selection criteria for duty lawyers are unclear,and the assessment and reward and punishment mechanisms are incomplete,making it difficult to guarantee the quality of legal assistance;The fourth issue is the poor operation of the on duty lawyer system,manifested by low allowances for on duty lawyers,poor work connection,and limited communication and cooperation with the case handling authorities.Effective legal assistance is an important guarantee for ensuring the quality of handling cases of confession and punishment,and how to improve the effectiveness of legal assistance is crucial.One is to improve the relevant legal provisions for duty lawyers.We need to refine relevant legal provisions and grant duty lawyers corresponding rights during the investigation phase.The second is to strengthen the protection of rights.To substantively inform the accused of their right to legal assistance;Strengthen information technology construction,and ensure the right of duty lawyers to review papers and meet through electronic marking,remote meetings,and other forms.Drawing on the sentencing negotiation systems of the United States,Italy,France,and Germany,it is necessary to ensure that lawyers participate in sentencing negotiations.Refine the specific provisions for sentencing negotiation,allowing the accused person to also have the right to initiate sentencing negotiation.After the procuratorial organ proposes sentencing suggestions,the accused person should be given a certain amount of time to consider.In addition,reference can be made to the "Five Step Case Handling Law" proposed by the Legal Aid Center of Xicheng District,Beijing,to standardize the sentencing negotiation process.The third is to strengthen quality management.We need to appoint duty lawyers with high professional skills and strong sense of responsibility to form a team.Improve the assessment mechanism for duty lawyers and establish specific standards for their work.As a self-disciplinary organization in the lawyer industry,the Bar Association should develop procedural norms for pleading guilty and punishing cases,provide guidance and operational norms for duty lawyers,and improve the quality and efficiency of their handling of cases.Standardize the case files of confession and punishment,and strengthen the supervision and assessment of the quality of handling cases by the judicial administrative organs on duty lawyers.Maintain a ledger of legal assistance provided by duty lawyers and improve the quality service evaluation system.Improve reward and disciplinary measures,provide serious and responsible duty lawyers with certain material rewards or honorary titles,and gradually establish a mechanism for elimination and withdrawal.The effective legal assistance in implementing the subject system improvement lies in: firstly,ensuring the work allowance of duty lawyers.To enhance the enthusiasm of lawyers on duty in handling cases,the government should ensure funding and implement a subsidy method that is linked to the actual amount of work.The second is to improve the mechanism for connecting the work of duty lawyers.We need to establish a mechanism for retaining traces of duty lawyers’ work and facilitate the transfer of duty lawyers to defense lawyers.The third is to improve the communication channels between duty lawyers and case handling agencies.Promote the establishment of a legal professional community,and enhance the sense of identity through regular training,unified curriculum design,and the establishment of a mutual evaluation mechanism through the legal professional community.Strengthen coordination and cooperation with case handling agencies,convene joint meetings between judicial administrative agencies,public security organs,procuratorates,and courts to jointly solve practical problems. |
