Research On The Standard Of Proof Of "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" In Contract Fraud Cases

According to real,legitimate,and relevant evidence,reasonable doubt is a justified suspicion triggered by a neutral third party based on the arguments of the parties,and after rigorous logical analysis and careful consideration.The establishment of the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard of proof marks the formal establishment of the hierarchical standard of proof in China’s civil procedure law.Although China’s legislation has clarified that "beyond a reasonable doubt" standards of proof and there is no lack of theoretical discussion on this issue,but the standard in judicial practice has not been accurately applied.In the cases of contractual fraud,the judges’ lack of understanding of the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard of proof has led to a greater degree of arbitrariness in the application of this standard.In judicial practice,there is a low rate of application of the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard of proof,insufficient reasoning,erroneous methods of determining the facts of contractual fraud,and a low rate of support for the claims of this standard by judges.A large number of adjudication documents of the cases of contractual fraud reflect the inconsistent understanding and application of "beyond reasonable doubt" by judges,the confusion between the two standards of proof and the lack of attention to the standard of proof of "beyond reasonable doubt" in practice.The reasons for the obstruction of the application of the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard in the cases of contractual fraud include two main aspects: first,the normative level does not further clarify the specific circumstances of "reasonable doubt";second,the consensus of "beyond reasonable doubt" standard of proof has not been formed.To effectively solve the problem of the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard of proof in the cases of contractual fraud,we can start from the following four aspects: first,to go to the correct determination of the fact of contractual fraud and to make an accurate determination of the fact of contractual fraud in terms of the constituent elements of contractual fraud and its boundaries with the crime of contractual fraud;Second,to correctly identify reasonable doubt.Legislation needs to clarify the meaning of "reasonable doubt",and judicial practice needs to examine the reasonableness of doubt from subjective and objective perspectives;Then,to strengthen the reasoning of adjudication documents in terms of evidence selection,fact determination and legal application,and to enhance judges’ understanding of the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard of proof by conducting seminars and regular training.Finally,the Supreme People’s Court can issue guiding cases on the application of "beyond reasonable doubt" in the cases of contractual fraud,so that judges can truly understand the meaning of this standard by explaining the law with cases.