Research On The Protection Of Victims’ Rights And Interests Under The Plea Bargaining System

With the revision of the Criminal Procedure Law in 2018,the plea leniency system has officially become an important direction of judicial reform now,and the current practical results achieved in misdemeanor cases are relatively good;the next step focuses on the need to overcome the difficulties in the application of this system in felony cases,so as to promote the vertical development of plea leniency.There are many problems with the protection of victims’ rights and interests in the application of the plea system in felony cases,and such topics have also triggered lively discussions.This article takes felony cases as a perspective and tries to suggest improvements in response to these "many problems".This paper consists of five parts.The first part introduces the significance of the research on the protection of victims’ rights and interests in the process of applying the plea system in felony cases and the current situation of domestic and foreign research,and explains the five research methods: literature research method,empirical research method,value analysis method,normative analysis method,and comparative research method.The second part identifies the scope of felony cases and the connotation of the plea leniency system,explains the theoretical basis of the application of the plea leniency system to felony cases and the protection of victims’ rights and interests,and discusses the realistic value of the protection of victims’ rights and interests in the process of applying the plea leniency system to felony cases from different perspectives.The third part points out that the application of the leniency system in felony cases is negligent to the protection of victims’ rights and interests at both the theoretical and practical levels,and summarizes four problems of the protection of victims’ rights and interests,namely,the right to know,the right to express opinions,the right to dissent and the right to legal aid,and analyzes the specific limitations of these four problems in depth.The fourth part summarizes the experience that can be drawn from the felony cases in the context of China’s plea-bargaining system through the evaluation of the measures for the protection of victims’ rights and interests in the criminal legislation of similar systems in foreign countries.The fifth part puts forward suggestions for improving the protection of victims’ rights and interests in the application of the plea-benefit leniency system in felony cases according to the principle of proportionality,including four ways to guarantee the right to know,expand the right to express opinions,give the right to recommend sentencing,and strengthen the right to legal aid.