冤錯案之平反救濟──美國「定罪完善小組」建置之借鏡

Reversing Wrongful Convictions: Lessons Learned from the Conviction Integrity Units in the United States

所謂「定罪完善小組」泛指美國各地區檢察署中，負責審查定讞後案件之專責單位，目的在於確保有罪判決之完善性，使無辜之人不被冤枉入獄。近年來，以紐約「無辜計畫」為首的民間冤錯案救援運動在全美各地展開，隨著越來越多平反案例的產生，美國各地的檢察機關開始感受到強烈的壓力，同時也逐漸開始意識到冤錯案問題確實存在。許多地區性的檢察機關於是開始在檢察署內部成立定罪完善小組，目的在於透過這個全新的組織，主動擔負起平反冤錯案的任務，並且尋找導致冤錯案之系統性缺陷。不過，由於這個概念非常新穎，而且美國各地檢察機關係獨立作業，因此針對定罪完善小組如何運作，各地差異甚大，成效也不盡相同。本文參考美國實務界及學術界針對定罪完善小組的相關討論，試圖整理出定罪完善小組成功的重要因素，供我國檢察系統參酌。

The Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) refers to a workgroup inside prosecutor’s office. Its responsibility is to review post-conviction cases and to ensure that no innocent people are being wrongfully convicted. Starting from the Innocence project in New York, the innocence movement in the United States has achieved great success over the past two decades. With more than 1,700 exonerations nationwide, prosecutors can no longer ignore that wrongful convictions exist. Many prosecutors’ offices, therefore, began to establish CIUs to review cases and attempt to fix systematic failures from the inside. However, because the concept of CIUs is new, and every prosecutor’s office works independently, there is a great difference in how these units work. This article aims to identify the elements that will lead to a successful CIU and to provide suggestions of reform to the prosecutor’s system in Taiwan.