Paragraph 2 of article 5 of the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Specific Issues Concerning the Handling of Voluntary Surrender and Meritorious Service (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") stipulates that "in accordance with the arrangements of the judicial organs, other criminal suspects (including co-offenders) are assisted by the judicial organs in capturing other criminal suspects". However, where criminals provide basic information such as the name, address, and physical characteristics of co-offenders, or provide contact methods, hiding addresses, and judicial organs to arrest co-offenders before or during the crime, it cannot be found to be assisting judicial organs in apprehending co-offenders. In judicial practice, there is a certain degree of controversy as to whether the information provided by the criminals is a confession or a meritorious service content, and whether the identification and identification on the spot must be carried out on the spot, which in turn affects the judgment of the merits.
For example, Zhang X and Li X and "Xiao Bin" robbed Wang X, and after 5 years of hiding, Zhang X and Li X were arrested and arrested by the public security organs, and were sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 years imprisonment respectively in the first instance. In the case, there was no other information about "Xiao Bin" except to indicate that "Xiao Bin" was at large. At the second-instance appeal stage, Zhang submitted a whistleblower letter to report that "Xiao Bin"'s younger brother Liu Dabing was suspected of committing a crime. The procurator believes that the important co-offender of the case, "Xiao Bin", is still at large, and since Zhang can report the information that "Xiao Bin" brother is suspected of committing a crime, and also knows that the real name of "Xiao Bin" brother is Liu Dabing, then Zhang May know the personal information of "Xiao Bin", even if he does not know, he can also find the clues of "Xiao Bin" by following the vine. So the procurator conducted targeted interrogation of Zhang and successfully obtained a series of key information about "Xiao Bin", such as "Xiao Bin" had just been released from a prison two months before the crime, was a person from a certain province, surnamed Liu, was about 1.7 meters tall, Liu Dabing was his brother, and there was Liu Dabing's number on his mobile phone and WeChat. The procurator handed over the relevant information to the investigating organs, and on the basis of the comprehensive research and judgment of the above information, the investigative organs locked Liu Dagang and Liu Daqiang through Liu Dabing, a member of the same household, and after preliminarily identifying the criminal suspects, handed them over to Zhang Mou in the detention center for identification, determined that Liu Dagang was "Xiao Bin", and later successfully arrested the fugitive "Xiao Bin", and "Xiao Bin" has been convicted and sentenced.
For Zhang's behavior, one view is that Zhang's behavior is frank content, does not constitute a kind of meritorious service to assist in arrest, and this situation can be properly considered in sentencing, but it is not a mitigating or mitigating circumstance. Another view is that it can be found that Zhang Mou constitutes a meritorious contribution to assisting in arrest, and the punishment may be mitigated or mitigated according to law.
The reason why the criminal law establishes a meritorious service system is that the perpetrator exposes the criminal acts of others after committing the crime, or provides important clues, so that other cases can be investigated, indicating that the perpetrators hate the criminal acts, so that the possibility of re-offending will be reduced. The second is to expose the criminal acts of others or provide important clues, which is conducive to the judicial organs discovering and cracking other criminal cases, so as to realize the confirmation of the criminal law and save judicial resources. For example, the reason why criminals who assist the judicial organs in arresting other criminals, including co-offenders, is considered to be meritorious is because the judicial organs often spend a lot of manpower and material resources to arrest criminals who are still at large, and the criminals who have already been arrested can save a certain amount of manpower and material resources of the judicial organs by assisting the judicial organs in arresting some fugitive criminals.
In this case, the author believes that it can be determined that Zhang Mou constitutes a meritorious contribution to assisting in arrest, and there are four main reasons:
First, the key information relied on for arrest is not frank content. The key to the successful arrest of Liu Dagang by the investigation organs is that through the information provided by Zhang, the person "Liu Dabing" was first determined, and then liu Dagang and Liu Daqiang, who were in the same household, were found, and then through Zhang's identification, it was determined that "Xiao Bin" was Liu Dagang and arrested. According to the provisions of the "Opinions", providing basic information such as the name, address, and physical characteristics of co-offenders, or providing the contact methods, hiding addresses, and judicial organs that were used before or during the crime to arrest co-offenders, is a confessional content, and therefore cannot be regarded as a meritorious service in assisting in arrest. In this case, Liu Dabing is not a co-offender, but another person who has nothing to do with this case, and the provision of this key information to Liu Dabing is not a confession, but a new content and new situation in addition to the joint crime, and is the key clue to successfully determine "Xiao Bin's" personal information.
Second, identifying the perpetrators has played a key role in the successful arrest. Although Zhang and "Xiao Bin" committed the crime of intentional injury, he did not know the real name and residence of "Xiao Bin", nor did he know the contact information and hiding address. However, Zhang mou clearly stated that he could identify "Xiao Bin" and was willing to assist the judicial organs in actively arresting "Xiao Bin". In the whole case, only Zhang Mouren could identify "Xiao Bin", and other co-defendants and witnesses could not be successfully identified. After the investigation organs initially targeted liu dagang and Liu Daqiang, two criminal suspects, it was through Zhang's identification that it was determined that "Xiao Bin" was Liu Dagang. It should be considered that Zhang's identification played a key role in the arrest of Liu Dagang, without Zhang's successful identification, it is difficult to achieve the arrest of "Xiao Bin", and his identification record is also key evidence in the criminal facts of the later accusation of "Xiao Bin".
Third, it embodies the attitude of repentance and saves judicial resources. Paragraph 2 of article 5 of the "Opinions" identifies and identifies other criminal suspects on the spot (including co-offenders) as assisting in the arrest type in accordance with the arrangements of the judicial organs, mainly because in the case of the criminal suspect cannot be identified, other criminal suspects are identified and locked on the spot, so as to achieve the timely arrest of criminals and reduce the loss of judicial resources. Whether it is identified on the spot or confirmed through the identification record, the effect achieved is from "can not determine the criminal suspect" to "successfully identify the criminal suspect", the identification and identification on the spot is only an external form, the key lies in the successful identification of the criminal suspect under uncertain circumstances, which is the internal meaning and essential requirement of article 5, paragraph 2 of the "Opinions" to assist in the arrest type of meritorious service. In fact, Zhang Mou's photo identification actually achieved the effect of identifying and identifying on the spot, and this kind of active assistance in the arrest of co-offenders also reflected his attitude of admitting guilt and repentance, reducing the possibility of re-offending and saving judicial resources.
The fourth is to conform to the relevant spirit of the provisions on meritorious service in drug crimes. According to the Minutes of the National Symposium on the Trial of Drug Crime Cases in Some Courts of the Supreme People's Court on December 1, 2008 (hereinafter referred to as the "Minutes"), which clearly states that "the defendant provided clues that were not hidden by the relevant judicial organs or that the relevant judicial organs could not grasp in accordance with normal working procedures, and the relevant organs caught the co-offenders accordingly, which is considered to be assisting the judicial organs in catching the co-offenders, and shall be regarded as meritorious service". The information provided by Zhang Mou, such as Liu Dabing, is itself a clue that is not in the hands of the judicial organs, and it is precisely on this basis that the judicial organs arrest the co-offenders. The "Opinions" belong to the explanation of the relevant provisions of the general provisions of the Criminal Law, the "Minutes" are the interpretation of the relevant application of individual crimes, the "Opinions" are more effective than the "Minutes", although the provisions of the "Minutes" cannot be used to disprove the interpretation of the General Provisions, but the relevant spirit contained therein is from the perspective of disintegrating crimes and cracking down on crimes, encouraging the exposure of co-offenders. In judicial practice, leniency may be appropriately given on whether it constitutes an assisted arrest type meritorious service, and from the angle of being conducive to cracking down on crime and benefiting the defendant, to promote the defendant's admission of guilt and obedience to the law, so as to achieve a better crackdown on crime.
(Source: Procuratorial Daily Author Affilications: People's Procuratorate of Guangdong Province)