民意趨向與司法審理制度之改革──以建構人民參與審判制度為中心

Public Opinion and Judicial Reform: the Case of Citizen Participation in Criminal Trials

我國社會目前正在熱烈討論人民參與刑事審判的制度方向。本文從法與社會研究的觀點出發，將司法審判制度改革議題，置於目前世界各國興起的「強化人民參與審判」風潮脈絡之下加以觀察討論。本文發現，各國依據其本身的法制背景與社會需求所創設的人民參與審判制度，已經逐漸打破陪審制與參審制兩大陣營涇渭分明的傳統，呈現多元化的趨勢。如此一來，如何探知或釐清社會需求及制度改革的目標，以作為制度建立或改造的基礎，就成為關鍵的課題。本文建議除了瞭解比較法上制度多元發展的趨勢之外，應積極的利用與進行各項法實證研究，不僅得以進一步探求釐清我國的民意趨向與社會需求，更能以所獲得的客觀經驗證據對各種制度方案進行評估，作為各界進行思辨審議的基礎。如此不僅有助於加強對話、形成共識，有效的連結民意趨向與專業社群的意見，希望能建構一個符合臺灣社會需求與特色的人民參與審判機制，提升司法的社會信賴度，確實鞏固司法的正當性基礎。

Since the late 1990s, citizen participation in criminal procedures has surfaced in several countries including Spain, Russian, Mexico as well as East Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea. In Taiwan, the concept of citizen participation is welcomed and considered an important part of judicial reform. However, it is still in debate over what form of the citizen participation institution should take: the Anglo-American jury system or the mixed court system of laypersons and professional judges. The article suggests to develop a system to respond to the increasing social distrust against courts and public expectation on judicial reform. This article discusses the trend of citizen participation in criminal trials and suggested Taiwan to develop its new institution to meet its social needs and policy goals. In order to better gouge public opinion and evaluate various proposals, it is necessary to provide sufficient information to the public for deliberation. The author urges to conduct more empirica l legal studies to shed light on the public preference and building a feasible system to fortify judicial legitimacy.