The judicial organs of the Song Dynasty were also established according to centralization. In Song Dynasty, the whole country was divided into different roads, and each road was equipped with a judge, who was a first-class permanent official appointed by the imperial court. His main task is to help manage the transfer of criminal and civil judges. In principle, the Song system has only two levels. The chief executives at all levels, that is, the heads of local governments, are generally in charge of the judiciary. The county magistrate is solely responsible for judicial affairs at the county level, and the principle is to personally participate in the trial of cases. Town rock officials below the county level have no right to hear cases; Its social leaders and leaders can only handle some minor criminal cases under the supervision of state and county officials. It can be seen that the county is the basic unit of the judicial institutions in the Song Dynasty. State-level (institutions at the same level as the state, as well as the government and the military) judicial affairs are the responsibility of state governors, that is, state affairs, government affairs, and military supervision. In order to control the judiciary and supervise local officials, each state appoints special judges as deputy governors. The administrative affairs of the whole country can only be implemented after a unanimous judgment. At the same time, the court also appointed curtain officials, such as judges and judges, to assist the country and handle the administrative and judicial affairs of the whole country. Those responsible for investigating laws and discussing crimes have joined the army by the judiciary; A manager in charge of investigation and interrogation joined the army. Because Kaifeng is located in the capital, there are some special regulations on the establishment of judicial officials, which are actually different from other States and states. In addition to 1 magistrate, there are four judges and judges in Kaifeng, who take turns to hear cases every day. In addition, there are two judges around the military patrol, who are responsible for hearing all cases in Beijing; There are four officials in the left and right compartments, who are responsible for inspection and interrogation and handling minor incidents respectively. In addition, there is also a clerk who handles disputes such as hukou marriage with the army. There are so many officials in Kaifeng. Poor Bao, Ce, Zhao is so tired of doing so much work! In the early Song Dynasty, the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple were mainly set up in its center, which were responsible for the administration of justice respectively. The chief of Dali Temple is not full-time. A judge is the chief, and a junior official is the deputy chief, all of whom are held by other officials. There are detailed judges and judges who handle specific judicial affairs. There is no prison in the temple, and all prisoners are sent to Kaifeng prison (no wonder Kaifeng prison is crowded). It was not until the official system reform during Zongshen's reign that the official and deputy officials of Dali Temple began to set up full-time officials to restore the prison of Dali Temple. (This is another story. In addition, the central judicial organ in the Song Dynasty also had a censorate. In the suggestion, Cheng was the director, and other officials often served concurrently. Take miscellaneous treatment as advice, one person as deputy, and preside over Taiwan Province affairs. There are imperial advisers, supervisors, procurators, chief bookkeepers and other officials in the temple to handle the interrogation of officials who violate the law and neglect their duties, participate in the trial of major criminal cases, and exercise their supervisory duties. Different from Dali Temple, Yushitai has a prison for prisoners, called Tai Prison, which is used to hold the criminals it holds. The judicial system in the Song Dynasty was actually a three-level and three-trial system. The grass-roots judicial organs in the Song Dynasty were located at the county level, and the county magistrate was in charge. However, county-level judicial organs can only handle criminal cases below flogging; Acts above, the magistrate of a county to collect evidence, understand the case, and then sent to the state capital, this is called "solution". In principle, the county magistrate should personally try criminal cases. County officials can only handle minor criminal cases, which is a limited punishment. Those who commit crimes against employees or above should be sent to the county information office, and they cannot make their own decisions. Criminal cases involving staff members or below shall be executed by the county judgment and signed by the magistrate. The county jail only holds undecided prisoners, and convicted prisoners will be released immediately after slapping and cudgeling. All prisoners who violate the law must be handed over to the state so that convicted prisoners will not be detained. It's terrible to think that the county magistrate of many units was beheaded in the court of political affairs! National judicial institutions, including the government and the army, occupied an important position in the judicial system of the Song Dynasty, so the funeral court paid special attention to it. In addition to knowing the States, there is also a special judge as the deputy chief of each state. The administrative and judicial affairs of the whole country can only be implemented after the signing of the general judgment (then called the signing letter); Otherwise it is invalid. At the same time, the court directly appointed curtain officials, such as judges and judges, to handle the administrative and judicial affairs of the whole country. All cases involving apprentices or above must be sent to the state government for handling, and the state government can judge cases involving executors or above until the death penalty is imposed. The trial procedure in this state can be roughly divided into three stages: pushing hammer, checking and ending. The so-called hammer-pushing means that after the criminals are arrested by inspection, or the criminals are sent to the state by the county government, the managers first join the army for interrogation, collect witnesses and collect evidence. (Zhao Zhu) The so-called sentence, that is, the abbreviation of investigating the law on crime, means that the judicial organs join the army, and according to the criminal facts that have been obtained and verified, they detect the appropriate applicable corresponding laws and regulations, and negotiate and decide the charges and penalties that should be sentenced. (Policy work) The so-called investigation means that the judge or magistrate appointed by the court will make further analysis and research on the case according to the facts of the case obtained in the trial and the relevant laws and regulations that have been detected, or directly interrogate the prisoner as needed, make a judgment on conviction and sentencing, and report it to the Chief Executive for signature. Finally, according to the judgment, it was decided to make a judgment, signed the judgment, and publicly announced its withdrawal. Although the judgment in this case was issued in a well-known name, the judges or judges who participated in the judgment, as well as the administrators and judicial personnel, were all from the military and should bear incidental responsibilities. Therefore, if the above-mentioned officials disagree with the judgment, they should promptly apply for correction in the public; If it is known that this proposal is not adopted, you can write another objection document and submit it to the Criminal Procedure Department to reserve your opinion. It's called a proposal. If it is later found that there is a major mistake in the judgment, the first official can be exempted from punishment; In other words, Procurator-General Lu found a major mistake in the original judgment because of the proposal, and corrected it in time, and the first proposal can also be rewarded. The supreme ruler of the Song Dynasty used this reward and punishment method to improve the sense of responsibility of judicial officials and ensure the quality of handling cases. (accordingly, every time a corrupt official is punished and every unjust case is settled, a group of officials will follow! It seems that it is not easy to be a local official at the same time as Bao Bao. Death penalty cases are related to human life, and the judicial system in Song Dynasty has special provisions. Therefore, in the process of hearing death penalty cases, if you think that there are some special circumstances in a case, such as "law is more important than emotion, emotion is more important than law, and things are suspicious and reasonable", you must send all the files to the court for judgment. This is called beating. All cases of divination should be thoroughly analyzed by Dali Temple. Of course, if the facts of the crime are clear, the evidence is sufficient, the judgment is accurate, there is no doubt about the application of the law, and the criminals themselves have confessed, of course, there is no need for admonition. (I didn't see a few handed over to Dali Temple without clear examination, but quite a few were handed over to Bao Qingtian! ) Song Yaohui and Criminal Law IV stipulate that anyone who should play without playing, or should not play, will be punished to a certain extent. In this way, the arbitrariness or prevarication of local officials in handling cases can be prevented. The Song Dynasty also stipulated that there was a system of "interpretation of differences" in death penalty cases, that is, grievances were allowed. In all death penalty cases that have been sentenced but not yet executed, the criminals themselves and their families can express their grievances, which was called "revision of the sentence" at that time. According to the criminal law, once a case changes, the judicial organ needs to try it again, which is called "retrial". (In this case, "Bao Qingtian" has been fully displayed. Where there are discrepancies in the interrogation process of the arraignment department, that is, during the interrogation process due to review, the arraignment department should send judges other than the original examiner to hear the case, which is called "not pushing". This was called non-interference in litigation in the Song Dynasty, which was similar to the modern avoidance system. If the case is different when it is approved and executed by the arraignment department, it should be tried by other regulatory departments in the road. If our supervisor has any interference, such as having relatives and friends with prisoners, it should be tried by the next supervisor to avoid bending the law. (I remember the official of Dali Temple in Di Qing's unit. His daughter was suspected to have been killed by Di Qing, and the old man didn't avoid suspicion. If there are still grievances after retrial, you should ask the court directly. This is called a verdict, which is decided by the emperor. The Song Dynasty also stipulated that all cases of capital crimes should be sent to the Criminal Division of the imperial court for examination, and the imperial court often sent envoys to various places to try cases. In other words, all criminals who commit capital crimes have to go through a detailed examination by the Ministry of Punishment. (This is why shrimp bags can be smashed directly in court? Answer: Because the hay cutter, the bag, is the imperial shovel! ) and the criminal cases played by the States, after being audited by Dali Temple, will eventually be submitted to the Ministry of Punishment for detailed reply, and then sent to the trial court for detailed discussion. This shows that the authority of Dali Temple is quite limited. The specific division of trial affairs in Dali Temple is still strict. The left part of Dali Temple is responsible for sentencing, and is in charge of crimes, capital crimes and other cases submitted for review by state officials and universities. Its right department is in charge of prison management, that is, criminal cases committed by officials of various organs in the capital. The case was examined in detail in Dali Temple, and after the detailed reply of the punishments, it must be examined in the province. If the province under the door thinks that the case is not handled properly, it must refute it according to law and return it to Dali Temple for detailed judgment; Punishment must be repeated in detail, or corrected directly by the provincial government. After the approval of the provincial government, Zhongshu Province still has to make comments. If the evaluation results show that the original judgment is improper, Zhongshu Province can directly state its objection to the emperor. If the emperor also thinks that the case is in doubt, he will hand it over to two systems (namely, the Hanlin bachelor and the Chinese secretary who knows the patent), the minister (namely, the same chapter-the prime minister, the deputy minister who understands politics), and the Taiwan remonstrance (namely, the remonstrance-the remonstrance officer-the remonstrance court) * * with the appraisal (this is so troublesome, it is better to give the package directly! The most exasperating thing is that criminal cases are checked at all levels, but there are still many unjust prisons. In short, the judicial court, Dali Temple, Ministry of Punishment and Yushitai were the judicial organs of the Song Dynasty, all of which were responsible to the emperor. Its judicial system also embodies this highly centralized spirit.
(1) The central judicial system in the Song Dynasty followed the Tang system. The central government still regards Dali Temple, Ministry of Punishment and Yushitai as the three major judicial organs, and their responsibilities have not changed. In the second year of Emperor Taizong's Chunhua (99 1), in order to strengthen the control of judicial power, the court added a trial court to the palace ban, with 1 court officer and 6 deliberative officers. All cases played in the whole country should be put on file by the trial court, then sent to Dali Temple for trial, reviewed by the Ministry of Punishment, discussed in detail by the trial court, and asked the emperor to make a ruling. In fact, this has added a first-level review institution to the Ministry of Justice, deprived Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice of some powers, and complicated the trial and review procedures. In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), Zongshen reformed the official system, abolished the trial court and returned the power to the Ministry of Punishment. Since then, all cases established by the imperial edict have been temporarily formed by court officials to investigate and try; The cases ordered by Zhongshu Province were temporarily composed of officials from the railway supervision department and the national army, thus ensuring the emperor's direct control over major cases. In addition, the Privy Council has the right to participate in the trial and supervision of military and political cases, and the Third Division and the Ministry of Housing have the right to participate in the judicial trial of financial and tax cases. (2) The local judicial system was implemented at the state (prefecture) and county levels in the Song Dynasty, and the chief executive was still in charge of the judiciary. The county has the right to try cases below flogging, and cases above imprisonment must be submitted to the state government for judgment. Each state has the right to try cases with imprisonment or above, but death penalty cases must be reported to the Ministry of Punishment for review, and major and difficult cases should be reported to the Ministry of Punishment for deliberation by Dali Temple or ruled by the emperor. In the Gyeonggi area, Kaifeng Prefecture and Lin 'an Prefecture are responsible for judicial trial activities. In the second year of Emperor Taizong's Chunhua (99 1), a first-level prison department was added above the prefectures and counties, as an institution sent by the central government, which was mainly responsible for supervising judicial activities, reviewing major cases in prefectures and counties, and monitoring illegal acts of illegally attacking prefectures and counties, so as to strengthen the control of the central government on local judicial jurisdiction. II. Litigation trial system (I) Limitation of action and trial period The Song Dynasty made a clear distinction between the trial of civil litigation cases and criminal litigation cases, and stipulated the specific limitation of action respectively. 1. Time limit and limitation of civil litigation In order to ensure the normal progress of agricultural production, the Song Dynasty formulated the time limit of civil litigation in the Prescription of Affairs. The so-called "service" refers to agricultural affairs; Entering the business refers to the busy farming period, and opening the business refers to the slack farming period. According to the Song Criminal Code, the service period is from February 1 to September 30 of the lunar calendar every year, and the state and county governments may not accept civil litigation cases such as private farmland houses, marriages and debts; If there is a civil dispute, a complaint should be filed from 10/day to 1 30 of the following year, and the government should try and close the case before March 30; If the case cannot be closed within the time limit, the reason must be reported. In order to prevent someone from preventing the owner from redeeming the pawned land when entering the business, the Song Law added that although the case of seizing property is within the time limit of entering the business, it can be accepted by litigation. If you are dissatisfied with the judgment, you can appeal step by step until the central household department. In order to prevent the lawsuit from dragging on for a long time, the Song Dynasty stipulated the absolute time limit for the words in civil cases. In the second year of Xiaozong main road (1 166), it is stipulated that those who are not completed within half a year can appeal. In the first year of Ning Dynasty, it was stipulated that the simple civil action would end on the same day; Need witness testimony, the county government closed the case in five days, the state government closed the case in ten days, and the supervisor closed the case in half a month. [14] With regard to the limitation of civil action, when Taizu was in office, it was stipulated that anyone who returned to claim farmland houses because of the war for more than 15 years would not be accepted by the court. The Criminal Law of the Song Dynasty stipulates that disputes over land and houses will not be accepted if the parents and witnesses die after the accident and the deed of house has been destroyed for more than 20 years. Debt disputes in which the debtor and guarantor have absconded for more than 30 years will no longer be accepted. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong stipulated that disputes arising after three years of buying and selling farmland houses would not be accepted. The limitation of civil action is conducive to maintaining civil relations and social stability formed according to law. 2. Limits of criminal trial in prison For criminal litigation cases, the Song Dynasty stipulated the "limits of trial in prison" according to three categories: large, medium and small, requiring judges to close the case within the limits. Taizong stipulated that Dali Temple was limited to 25, 20 and 10 days respectively, the court was limited to 15, 10 and 5 days respectively, and the states were limited to 40, 20 and 10 days respectively. When he was a philosopher, according to the number of papers in the case file, he clearly divided the criteria into three categories: large for more than 20 fields, medium for more than 10 fields and small for less than 10 fields. At the same time, it is stipulated that Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment review the case on 12, 9 and 4 respectively. Cases in Shi Jing and Balu were reviewed for 10, 5 and 3 days respectively. [15] For some special cases that cannot be tried according to normal procedures, the Song Dynasty stipulated that there was a special time limit for prison escape, which reflected the characteristics of flexibility. (2) The control of the emperor of Song Dynasty over judicial power was first manifested in his direct participation in judicial trial activities. Taizong, Taizong, etc. Hui Zong often uses "royal handwriting" to judge crimes in cases that have been decided by himself. Any case of breaking imperial pen shall not be appealed to Shangshu Province, otherwise it will be punished as the crime of breaking imperial pen; The government that accepts such cases may not be able to "prevent delay" through the usual laws; Otherwise, if you drag a hundred sticks for two years, one day, two days plus one class, and more than three days will be punished as blasphemy, and the crime will stop for three thousand miles. Secondly, the emperor often catches prisoners himself. In the second year of Kaibao (969), Taizu ordered officials from Beijing and other places to supervise the prison and put it in prison every five days. Emperor Taizong reiterated this system and asked the emperor to listen to it every ten days. Then he made it a routine system to record the prisoner's situation on the tenth day. Taizu and Taizong also personally detained prisoners in Kaifeng, so that dozens of people were pardoned. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the filial piety ceremony was not only tried and decided every summer, but also practiced "great cold and worrying about prisoners" [17]. (3) Attach importance to investigation and evidence collection In judicial trial activities, the Song Dynasty attached importance to the use of various evidences such as oral confession, documentary evidence, physical evidence and witness testimony, especially to forensic examination and judicial expertise. The government has set up special inspectors and formulated inspection laws and regulations to standardize the scope, content, procedures and rules of inspection, the responsibilities of inspectors and the paperwork and procedures of inspection records. In the Song Dynasty, there was a gate of "checking whether the disease was true or false" in the criminal code, and in the Qing Dynasty, there were also imperial edict formats such as "checking" and "checking" and "autopsy", which specifically stipulated the system of inspection and inquest. The development of forensic medicine in Song Dynasty reached a new level. Song Ci (1 1249), a criminal prison in Hunan province, summed up the techniques of forensic examination in past dynasties, and combined with his own experience in forensic practice, compiled the world's first systematic forensic monograph "Collection of Remembering Injustice", which was approved to be published nationwide. The book selects the regulations promulgated by the government over the years, absorbs the knowledge of folk medicine, and compiles 53 contents such as general theory of resuscitation, autopsy, changes of the four seasons of corpses, hanging, drowning, murder and taking poison. After the Ming Dynasty, it was translated into Korean, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch and other languages and published, which had an important influence in the world. (4) Division system refers to trial and judgment. Division separates trial and judgment, and different officials are in charge. In the Song Dynasty, both the central and local governments implemented the ytterbium-divination system. The Dali Temple and the Punishment Department in the center are tried by detailed judges (judges), who are responsible for reviewing and applying laws. Finally, it will be reviewed and decided by the competent leader. Every state government has a secretarial college. Secretaries join the army (company) to be responsible for hearing and investigating the facts. Judicial officers join the army (company) to apply the rules according to the facts, and finally the justices and justices make their own decisions. The Department emphasizes that the two departments exercise their functions and powers independently, and shall not exchange information or handle cases through consultation, which is conducive to mutual restraint and prevention of fraud. On the other hand, the legal forms of the Song Dynasty are complex and varied, and there are many articles. The establishment of full-time officials to review the provisions is also conducive to the correct application of the law. However, the court system is not the fundamental way to solve judicial corruption, and this trial mode without trial by judges does not conform to the basic principles of the judicial system. (5) The system of abnormal investigation originated in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, which means that prisoners retract their confessions during interrogation or execution and lodge complaints, and the case must be retried. The interrogation in Song Dynasty is a routine procedure before the judgment of cases with imprisonment or above, and the trial can get the opportunity of appeal. The person subjected to execution may also lodge a complaint before or during execution. For this kind of unjust case, the government must try it again, which is called checking differences. The different trial system in the Song Dynasty is divided into two forms: the original trial organ's "different trial" and the superior's "different trial". The former is to transfer the case to another judicial department for retrial by the original judicial organ, which is also called "not pushing". There were two or more judicial departments in the central and local judicial institutions in the Song Dynasty, such as the left and right halls of the Ministry of Punishment and the left and right prisons of Dali Temple. If the criminal refuses to accept the judgment and files a complaint, it will be handed over to another department for retrial. For the latter, the higher authorities shall send judges to the original judicial organ to preside over the retrial, or designate another judicial organ for retrial. After Zhezong, the system of different surveys changed. Anyone who makes mistakes before or during recording should be transferred to another department; If there is any discrepancy after recording, report to the superior, and don't push it. In order to prevent prisoners from turning over their mistakes repeatedly, the Prison Break Law of the Song Dynasty stipulated that turning over their mistakes should not be pushed for three times, and those who still turn over their mistakes for more than three times should not be pushed again. After the southern song dynasty, it was relaxed to five pushes.