Similarities and differences between plea bargaining and lenient punishment

Similarity between plea bargaining and forgiveness system;

1, with similar origins, saving judicial resources. Plea bargaining system and leniency system both stem from the shortage of judicial resources.

Plea bargaining system is a criminal justice system that originated in the United States in the19th century and has been widely used in long-term judicial practice. The lenient system of pleading guilty and admitting punishment came into being under the background of many judicial system reforms in China in recent years. The reform from filing examination system to filing registration system has made the number of trial cases increase rapidly year on year. The reform of trial-centered litigation system emphasizes highlighting the position of trial center, implementing the rules of evidence adjudication and strictly excluding illegal evidence, which leads to a significant extension of the trial period of criminal cases. The reform of post system and judicial responsibility system has reduced the number of cases handled by judges and prosecutors, and increased the intensity and pressure of their work.

2. Shorten the trial time and guarantee the defendant's right to a speedy trial. Under the plea bargaining system, the defendant can deal with the case handlers on the charges and the number of crimes, which can avoid the need to accept additional pre-trial procedures that restrict personal freedom due to the investigation of the case, and can also avoid the anxiety and uncertainty of waiting for the trial results. Under the lenient system of pleading guilty and admitting punishment, the case-handling personnel can give priority to changing the compulsory measures for the parties with low social harm procedures and good attitude towards pleading guilty, and can shorten the trial period and protect the rights of the defendant for the parties applying summary procedure or quick-cut procedure.

3. Consider the actual urgent needs of the victims. For many criminal cases, victims have diverse considerations.

4. The final judicial power belongs to the court. In the plea bargaining system in the United States, the court has the final decision on whether to accept the negotiation between the prosecution and the defense and how to sentence, and the judge has the decision to accept or reject the defense agreement submitted by the prosecution and the defense: if it is accepted, the defendant should be informed that the disposal opinions agreed in the agreement will be reflected in the judgment and sentencing; If it refuses, it shall notify both the prosecution and the defense that its agreement has been rejected, and record the situation. In our country's leniency system of confession and punishment, public security and procuratorial organs should inform the criminal suspect of the right of leniency system in the investigation stage and the examination and prosecution stage, but they should also record the confession and punishment of the criminal suspect in the prosecution opinion and indictment. However, only the court has the right to judge and sentence the behavior of criminal suspects and defendants.

The difference between plea bargaining and forgiveness system;

1, essential difference: different standards of proof. In plea bargaining, the criminal suspect and the case-handling personnel can negotiate on the charges and the number of crimes. If the parties have pleaded guilty, in principle, the case does not need to enter the trial procedure, and the court can directly make a guilty verdict on the defendant. In the lenient system of confession and punishment, the case of confession and punishment should still be based on clear facts and sufficient evidence.

2. Significant difference: the participation of lawyers. In plea bargaining, if the parties have pleaded guilty, in principle, the case does not need to enter the trial procedure, and the court can directly make a guilty verdict. In this case, although judicial resources are saved, it is also easy to breed corruption. Our country emphasizes that lawyers participate in the lenient system of pleading guilty and admitting punishment, and defense lawyers can negotiate with the investigation organ on the voluntary confession and admitting punishment of the parties in the investigation stage. According to article 15 of the Guiding Opinions on the System of Pleading Guilty and Accepting Punishment, defense lawyers should communicate with criminal suspects and defendants on whether to plead guilty, provide legal advice and help, and put forward opinions on conviction and sentencing and the application of litigation procedures to the case-handling organs.

legal ground

Decision of the NPC Standing Committee on authorizing the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to carry out the pilot work of pleading guilty and leniency in criminal cases in some areas.

In order to further implement the criminal policy of tempering justice with mercy, improve the criminal procedure, rationally allocate judicial resources, improve the quality and efficiency of handling criminal cases, ensure that the innocent are not subject to criminal investigation, and the guilty are justly punished, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, and promote judicial justice, the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th NPC decided to authorize the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to be in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenyang, Dalian, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Fuzhou and Xiamen. Criminal suspects and defendants voluntarily confess their crimes truthfully, have no objection to the alleged criminal facts, and agree with the sentencing suggestions of the people's procuratorate and sign a written statement, which can be dealt with leniently according to law.