看見「隱形的受害人」：從《兒童權利公約》評洪當興家暴殺人案刑事裁判中的被告子女權益論述與量刑考量

Seeing the“Invisible Victims”: Examining the Defendant's Children's Rights Discourse and Sentencing Consideration in the Criminal Trial of Hong Dangxing's Family Violence Homicide Case under the Convention on the Rights of the Child

本文從《兒童權利公約》檢視洪當興家暴殺人案歷審裁判後發現，該案審理前、後期對於兒童最佳利益的考慮與衡量有極大落差。該案於第一、二審即審理前期，就被告子女兒童利益之未予重視並持續判死，直至經最高法院發回後的更一審階段出現了重大突破。更一審法院除了以程序書面裁定本件送請兒童最佳利益鑑定並詳述理由、確立執行原則外，在最終的實體判決量刑理由中，亦詳細檢核本件在可能選科死刑的情況下，是如何於被告的量刑評價之中，衡酌被告子女之兒童最佳利益。洪案更一審裁判，於論述上盡可能地以合於《兒童權利公約》的解釋方式在量刑中考慮兒童最佳利益、意識到科處死刑之特殊性，實踐上亦為成人刑案中委託兒童最佳利益鑑定的裁判首例，當屬標竿裁判。惟本文從學理角度指出，現行裁判實務包含洪案更一審判決在內，將兒童最佳利益解釋為刑法第57條量刑因子之一的見解仍過於狹隘，有未能意識到刑罰對於整體社會更為廣泛的影響、以及非基於被告子女主體視角出發的量刑考慮等不足之處，同時本文也提出相關建議，期盼裁判實務未來就類似案件之《兒童權利公約》議題，都能夠更深入理解、認真以對，看見這群「隱形的受害人」。

This paper examines the significant disparity in the consideration and evaluation of the best interests of the children involved in the Hong Dangxing family violence homicide case throughout its judicial proceedings, as seen through the lens of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The case showed a substantial shift in the consideration of the children's best interests from the early stages to the later stages of the trial. In the first and second trials, the best interests of the defendant's children were not adequately considered, resulting in a death penalty verdict. However, a breakthrough occurred in the subsequent retrial after the Supreme Court's remand.
During the retrial, the court not only ordered an assessment of the child's best interests, providing detailed reasons and establishing principles for execution, but also conducted a comprehensive examination of how the best interests of the defendant's children were considered in the sentencing evaluation, even in cases where the death penalty was a possible outcome. The sentencing rationale in the retrial of the Hong case made every effort to consider the best interests of the children in line with the interpretation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, acknowledging the uniqueness of imposing the death penalty. Moreover, this retrial set a precedent for adult criminal cases involving an assessment of a child's best interests. It can be considered a landmark decision.
However, from a theoretical perspective, this paper points out that current judicial practice, including that observed in the retrial of the Hong case, interpret the best interests of the child as merely one of the factors under Article 57 of the Penal Code. This interpretation is seen as rather narrow as it neglects to acknowledge the broader societal impact of punishments and fails to takes into account during the sentencing process the perspective of the defendant's children as individual subjects. The paper also provides relevant recommendations, hoping that future judicial practice will better understand and seriously address issues related to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in cases similar to this one, recognizing the presence of these“invisible victims”.