試論大法庭法制之再精進──案件量觀點

A Way to Improve the Performance of Grand Chambers of the Final Courts in Taiwan

一個得作為對我國大法庭法制進一步研究之起點，是有關案件量之問題。按有關案件量之問題，在傳統以個案糾錯功能為主之上訴審法院，如我國現行之最高法院、最高行政法院，不同年度間案件量數件或數十件之變動，基本上是無足輕重者，但這卻不是在以從事造法功能為主法院之場合，對於一個從事造法法院，如大法庭言，僅是個位數字案件之增長，可能便具有不可忽視之重要性。本文以此為背景，從案件量之角度切入，先從事我國大法庭與所源自之德國法作比較，闡釋兩國在刑事上訴制度以及在終審法院中「庭」之制度差異。其次，再立論因大法庭係屬學理上所稱之造法法院，故不免有合理案件量之問題。最後，則是以因案件量增長後，大法庭既日趨重要，故於兩項制度設計上或應有所變革，同時於實務操作上應有之態度改變。

A good starting point of studying how to improve the performance of grand chambers in the final courts in Taiwan is from the perspective of caseload. For a court which mainly deals with the work of error correction, since it will handle thousands of cases per year, some increases in the caseload should not be a heavy burden for the court. However, for a court which assumes the responsibility of judicial law making, just a few cases added to the caseload could be a huge burden for the court. This is the situation for grand chambers of final courts in Taiwan, which have embraced the increase of caseload recently. Based on this, this paper would first explain why the grand chambers in the German Federal Court of Justice, which is the model that Taiwan follows, have much less caseload. Secondly, this paper would discuss the proper caseload that grand chambers in Taiwan should have annually. Finally, due to the inevitability of the increase of caseload, this paper would suggest further changes regarding the designs of grand chambers and attitudes of judges in practice.