Below, I will make a summary of some common mistakes told by myself and lawyer Jiang, and give some reference to other legal assistants or friends who are about to become legal assistants.
In order to facilitate understanding, the author will elaborate from the beginning, the body, the conclusion and the end.
First of all, the first part
The first part includes the title, the name and preface of an organ in a certain period.
Generally speaking, for legal assistants who write defense opinions for the first time, the topic is the easiest to make. The first author usually writes the words "defense opinions" directly, which is the most common mistake. In fact, title writing is also exquisite, following a certain format. I checked the defense opinions written by boss Jiang, and found that the title format used by lawyer Jiang is: XXX+XXX case involved+XXX stage+defense opinions. I think this writing is very professional. If you are more careful, you will find that the title format of such defense opinions is consistent with the title format of the court judgment. Therefore, I think that, in the view of senior judges, the writing of the title of defense opinion will affect the judge's judgment on the professional level of defense lawyers, so don't just write the words "defense opinion". Although the topic is a simple matter, it is very important.
As for the "address" and preface, they are actually routines. I didn't make this mistake when I first wrote my defense opinion, so I boldly estimate that no one will make this mistake. However, in case some inexperienced beginners don't understand what "preface" is, the author will explain it here. The preface generally includes two parts: one is the legality of the defender's appearance in court, that is, entrusted by the defendant or designated by the people's court. In practice, it also shows that it was appointed by the law firm. Secondly, what did the defender do before the trial, such as consulting the case file, meeting the defendant, investigating the case, etc., in order to show the court that his defense opinions are justified. In short, they are all cliches to set off defense opinions, which are more formal and nothing special.
Second, the text
The body part is the highlight of the whole defense opinion. Whether the judge can read your defense opinion depends on your writing skills in the main body.
In fact, it is hard to say that there is a uniform standard for writing. Every lawyer has his own style. Therefore, the author will focus on some mistakes I have noticed.
Mistake 1: I can't tell the difference between cross-examination opinions and defense opinions.
When writing the defense opinion, because the author had the experience of debating in school, every time I demonstrate an opinion, all the materials will be piled up in the text, including the materials in the file and the legal basis. At first, I really thought this writing was very good, because I thought the accumulation of information fully showed the author's point of view, but later I found it difficult for judges to understand this point of view. The reasons why judges are difficult to understand are: 1, the excessive accumulation of materials and the elaboration of legal basis easily make writers repeat their own views when organizing language, which causes judges to resent it; 2. Because there are many arguments, every argument is written in the form of accumulation of archival materials and narration of legal basis. If there is no uniform format in the narrative process, and there are differences in the way of argument between point A and point B, then from the whole defense opinion, the author's argument logic seems a bit confusing; 3. Because the author has repeatedly questioned the flawed evidence in the text, supplemented by legal basis, he essentially wrote cross-examination opinions, not defense opinions. Cross-examination opinions can be put forward during the trial, but brief defense opinions are the main ones before the trial.
Mistake 2: excessive anxiety judges will not understand their own defense views.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, one of the reasons for your mistake is that you don't trust the judge. This distrust causes the writer's excessive anxiety, and he is always worried that he will not pile all the materials together and all the legal basis will be quoted in full, so the judge will not understand his own defense point of view or worry that the judge will not adopt his own point of view.
In fact, such worries are completely unnecessary. In many cases, the professional quality of judges is not lower than that of lawyers. After all, judges handle cases all the year round and never worry about the source of the case. Their professional level can be improved not only by actually handling cases, but also by professional training of judges by institutions. In addition, many judges are law majors, and undergraduate or graduate students are law majors. As long as you don't repeat the argument, there is no logical confusion, and you don't need to write the full text of the legal provisions in detail. Simply write a XX article of XX Law, and the judge will understand. Therefore, the key to debating opinions is to keep clear reasoning logic, and there is no need to accumulate file materials and legal basis.
Mistake 3: The whole defense opinion is not clearly typeset.
If a defense opinion is rejected by the judge because of unclear typography, it is really the most unfair in history. In fact, "typesetting" and "headline writing" are of the same nature. Although they are small, they are very important. The typesetting is not clear and concise, and the visual effect of the whole defense opinion presented to the judge is very poor. If the judge doesn't read your defense opinion carefully, no matter how many words you write, you will only be sad!
So, how to make the layout clearer? The author's suggestion is: each argument is an independent paragraph, and the font of the text is Fangsong No.4, which can be bold according to the writing logic, and the spacing and line spacing of paragraphs can be appropriately increased. In short, the final typesetting effect requires that you look comfortable and others look comfortable.
Mistake 4: The wording of defense opinions does not change with the litigation stage.
I made such a mistake the first time I wrote my defense opinion. The case is currently in the second trial stage, but I have never changed the wording of the defendant in my defense opinion. In fact, in the second trial stage, "Defendant A" is called "Appellant A", which is more appropriate. In the first trial stage, it is called "defendant A can do it" and in the investigation stage, it is called "criminal suspect A".
Three. Concluding remarks
Usually, the conclusion should not be easy to make mistakes, but in order to keep the consistency of this article, the author also makes some explanations here. The conclusion mainly includes two aspects: 1, which summarizes your speech and puts forward concluding opinions to deepen the impression of the court on your defense point of view; 2. Express your expectations of the court. Taking the second instance as an example, it can be said that "I hope that the court of second instance will try the case according to the facts and evidence of the case, change the sentence according to law or send it back for retrial". In short, the conclusion should be concise, not sloppy and ambiguous. This part should play the role of finishing touch.
Fourth, the tail
The tail mainly includes two parts: the defender's signature and the date of writing. When writing a defense opinion for the first time, the date is easy to make mistakes. Date writing errors are usually manifested in writing dates in Arabic numerals, such as: 2065438+May 07 1. The correct writing of the date should be consistent with the format of the court judgment, such as 20 1 May 71day.
To sum up, it is not easy to write a good defense opinion. I can only summarize and share some small details I know here. Regarding the writing method of defense opinions, the author is still learning from Mr. Jiang Shubin. If the friends have other related findings, you can leave a message at the bottom of the article to remind everyone to pay attention and improve.