The standardization of sentencing is an important issue in the Chinese reform of criminal justice and sentencing procedure. This study draws on the material obtained from a sentencing procedure pilot project and emplo...The standardization of sentencing is an important issue in the Chinese reform of criminal justice and sentencing procedure. This study draws on the material obtained from a sentencing procedure pilot project and employs typical experimental methodology to test the effect of implementing the independent sentencing procedure through overall and paired comparisons. The results show that independent sentencing is viable in that it can significantly improve the transparency of the sentencing process and increase the quantity and amount of sentencing information obtained and employed by judges. Although the degree of satisfaction of participants in the procedure is not as high as expected, the resultsin trials of the first instance appear to have greater legitimacy and justifiability. At the same time, the independent sentencing procedure also helps give substance to the function of the collegiate bench, and can thus be taken as an important entry point for deepening court reform. However, the findings of our study show that there was room for improvement in the role of lawyers in this experiment.展开更多
文摘The standardization of sentencing is an important issue in the Chinese reform of criminal justice and sentencing procedure. This study draws on the material obtained from a sentencing procedure pilot project and employs typical experimental methodology to test the effect of implementing the independent sentencing procedure through overall and paired comparisons. The results show that independent sentencing is viable in that it can significantly improve the transparency of the sentencing process and increase the quantity and amount of sentencing information obtained and employed by judges. Although the degree of satisfaction of participants in the procedure is not as high as expected, the resultsin trials of the first instance appear to have greater legitimacy and justifiability. At the same time, the independent sentencing procedure also helps give substance to the function of the collegiate bench, and can thus be taken as an important entry point for deepening court reform. However, the findings of our study show that there was room for improvement in the role of lawyers in this experiment.
