基层法院审判委员会压力案件决策的实证研究

基层法院审判委员会压力案件决策的实证研究

An Empirical Study on How the Adjudication Committee in Basic-Level Courts Handle Cases with External Pressure

    期刊名称：《法学研究》
    期刊年份：
    作者：王伦刚,刘思达
    单位：西南财经大学法学院,加拿大多伦多大学社会学系
    中文关键词：审判委员会;司法决策;合法性;合法律性
    英文关键词：adjudication committee;judicial decision-making;legitimacy;legality
    中文摘要：
    20世纪90年代以来，我国学界对审判委员会的性质和功能一直存在争议，但对其在外部政治、社会压力的约束下如何进行司法决策，却缺乏实证研究。基于某县基层法院审判委员会2003—2012年间的近600份会议记录和对法官的访谈，本文详细描述了审判委员会处理政治、社会压力案件的决策过程，揭示了其行为逻辑，即将压力化解或转化为各方均可接受的判决内容，尽力实现案件合法性与合法律性的统一。审判委员会的司法决策既不关注学界热议的审判独立问题，也并非逃避司法责任的“黑洞”，而是一个在政治、社会、法律因素之间“三向考量，协调平衡”的合法化过程。
    英文摘要：
    The nature and functions of the adjudication committee in Chinese courts have been a controversial topic in the law circle since the 1990s. Based on approximately 600 meeting records of the adjudication committee in a grassroots people's court and interviews with judges, this article examines the adjudication committee's decision-making process in handling cases under external political or social pressure. It demonstrates the logic of adjudication committee's decision-making behavior, i.e., to reduce or convert the external pressure into a judicial decision acceptable to all relevant parties and to strike a balance between the legitimacy and legality of the case. The adjudication committee's decision-making process does not pay much attention to the issue of judicial independence, which has been a major concern of legal scholars, nor is it a "black hole" for evading judicial responsibility. Instead, it is a process of legitimation in which the committee weighs and balances the political, social, and legal elements of the case. The goal is to make judicial decisions that are not only in accordance with state law, but also acceptable by both the Party and administrative authorities and local people. The adjudication committee's process of discussing cases under political and social pressure consists of five steps, i.e., collectively publicizing the pressure, reviewing the legality of the pressure, discussing the strategies for handling the pressure, determining the decision-making plan, and reporting to higher authorities and making the final decision according to their feedbacks. Although this study focuses on one empirical case, it demonstrates a general logic of judicial behavior and decision-making.
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