2023年刑事程序法回顧：刑事鑑定新法評析

2023 Review of Criminal Procedure Law: Analysis of the New Criminal Forensic Law

2017年總統府司法改革國是會議分組決議「建請司法院研議制定並完善專家證人制度，同時檢討現行鑑定制度功能的缺失及其存廢問題」。經過司法院與行政院多年研議，2023年12月立法院通過刑事鑑定新法。新法賦予當事人在審判中自行委任機關鑑定的權利、增加鑑定人的利益揭露義務、參考美國聯邦證據規則明定鑑定報告的必要記載事項、限縮承認書面鑑定報告的證據能力等，一定程度上提升被告防禦不利鑑定報告的可能性。不過本文分析結果顯示，新法賦予當事人自行委任機關鑑定的權利純屬畫餅充飢，機關書面鑑定報告作為傳聞例外的違憲狀態繼續存在，並未真正排除舊法的缺失。新法仿效美國聯邦證據規則規定科學鑑定報告的證據能力要件，此一法律繼受忽略兩國刑事程序結構的差異，反而複製了美國法院實務操作的困境。因此，刑事鑑定新法的實際改革成效，難以樂觀期待。

In 2017, a subcommittee of the Presidential Office’s National Judicial Reform Conference resolved to ''urge the Judicial Yuan to deliberate and improve the expert witness system, while also reviewing the deficiencies of the current forensic system and addressing whether it should be retained.'' After years of deliberation by the Judicial Yuan and the Executive Yuan, the Legislative Yuan passed the new Criminal Forensic Law in December 2023. The new law grants parties the right to independently appoint forensic agencies during trials, increases the obligation for forensic experts to disclose any conflicts of interest, specifies the necessary elements of forensic reports with reference to the U.S. Federal Rules of Evidence, and limits the admissibility of written forensic reports as evidence. To some extent, this improves the defendant's ability to challenge unfavorable forensic reports. However, this article’s analysis shows that the right granted to parties to independently appoint forensic agencies is merely symbolic, and the unconstitutional use of written forensic reports as a hearsay exception persists, failing to truly address the flaws of the old law. The new law’s adoption of the U.S. Federal Rules of Evidence for the admissibility of scientific forensic reports overlooks the differences in criminal procedural structures between the two countries, thus replicating practical challenges. Therefore, it is anticipated that the 2023 Criminal Forensic Law is not the final stage of forensic reform.