What is the principle of criminal defense in favor of the defendant?
(1) Criminal suspects and defendants have the right to defense.
Article 1 1 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that when the people's court hears a case, the defendant has the right to be defended, and the people's court has the obligation to ensure that the defendant is defended. The basic meaning of this principle is:
1. During the whole criminal proceedings, criminal suspects and defendants have the right to defend themselves. From the stage of examination and prosecution, criminal suspects and defendants have the right to entrust defenders. At the trial stage, if the defendant meets the relevant conditions stipulated by law, the court shall appoint a lawyer to provide legal aid.
2. According to the provisions of Article 98 of the Criminal Procedure Law, a criminal suspect may hire a lawyer to provide him with consultation, complaint and accusation after being interrogated for the first time by the investigation organ or from the date when compulsory measures are taken. According to this provision, criminal suspects can get legal help from lawyers in the investigation stage, thus effectively exercising their right to defense.
3. The people's court has the obligation to ensure that the defendant is defended. In the trial procedure, the people's court shall promptly inform the defendant who has not entrusted a defender that he has the right to entrust a defender, and appoint a lawyer who undertakes the obligation of legal aid to defend the defendant under legal circumstances. In court proceedings, the people's court shall ensure that the legitimate defense behavior of the defendant and his defenders is not disturbed. Of course, this provision also applies to public security organs and people's procuratorates, both of which have the obligation to protect the defendant's defense.
(2) The basic principle of the Criminal Procedure Law: No one shall be found guilty without a court ruling according to law.
Article 12 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that no one shall be found guilty without a judgment by the people's court according to law. The basic meaning of this principle is:
1. In criminal proceedings, the right to determine the defendant's guilt is uniformly exercised by the people's court. In criminal proceedings, judicial power can only be exercised by the people's court in accordance with the law, and no other organ, organization or individual has the right to exercise it. Judicial power includes conviction power and sentencing power. The people's court is the only organ that has the power to determine a person's guilt and sentence him to punishment. In the process of investigation, examination and prosecution of criminal cases, public security organs and people's procuratorates can transfer criminal suspects to prosecution and public prosecution according to the facts and evidence that have been ascertained, but their determination of the guilt of criminal suspects and defendants will only bring about the effect in the sense of litigation, not the final guilty verdict. Only the conviction judgment made by the people's court according to law is the authoritative declaration of the state on the defendant's guilty conclusion.
2. The judgment of the people's court must be made according to law. When the people's court finds the defendant guilty in criminal proceedings, it must, in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure Law, find out the facts through trial, make a guilty verdict according to law and make a public announcement. Without legal procedures, the people's court shall not determine that anyone is guilty.
China's criminal procedure law embodies the spirit of this principle in the following aspects: canceling the conviction right that the people's procuratorate has had for a long time in the name of exemption from prosecution, so that the conviction right is exclusively exercised by the court; The person subject to criminal prosecution is always called "criminal suspect" in the stage of investigation, examination and prosecution, and is renamed "defendant" after prosecution by the procuratorate; The procuratorial organ has the right to make a decision not to prosecute a case that it considers that the evidence is insufficient and does not meet the conditions for prosecution; If, after hearing the case, the collegial panel considers that the facts of the case are unclear and the evidence is insufficient, and the defendant cannot be found guilty, it shall make an acquittal on the grounds that the evidence is insufficient and the alleged crime cannot be established.
The basic principle of the criminal procedure law in favor of the defendant is to find the defendant innocent before the court decides, that is to say, in the process of court hearing, if the existing evidence in the case is not enough to prove the defendant's criminal behavior, the court should decide the defendant innocent. This ensures the rights of the defendant. At the same time, during the trial of a case, the defendant has the right to defend himself, and the court should also guarantee the defendant's right to defense.
To sum up, criminal defense is generally aimed at the defendant's actions. As long as he has the right to defense, it is good for him. However, in the process of defense, he must also defend his views with evidence in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law, so that his chances of winning will be greater. Therefore, as long as there is evidence, he can reduce the crime.