我国刑法中终身监禁的合宪性改进  

Improving Constitutionality of Life Imprisonment in China's Criminal Law

作　　者：周光权 Zhou Guangquan

机构地区：[1]清华大学法学院

出　　处：《比较法研究》2023年第6期51-62,共12页Journal of Comparative Law

摘　　要：国内外均有不少刑法学者从尊重人格尊严、准确理解比例原则出发,对终身监禁是否具有合宪性提出质疑。但是,即便对“牢底坐穿”的绝对型终身监禁,理论上也应该认为其比死刑更为轻缓,制度设计背后有一定的合理性考量,不宜认定其违宪;从国外的宪法实践看,也肯定这类处罚措施的合宪性。《中华人民共和国刑法修正案(九)》所规定的仅适用于贪污、受贿犯罪死缓犯的终身监禁,虽然禁止减刑、假释,但不能轻易得出其违宪的结论。当然,这一具有总体合宪性的规定还存在改进空间。为此,应当寻求刑罚与宪法价值的协调性,从刑法规定体系化的角度对目前的终身监禁规定进行适度调整。未来修改刑法时,不宜在总则中规定终身监禁,而应当继续将终身监禁限定在极其狭小的适用范围,且应该删除“终身监禁,不得减刑、假释”中“不得假释”的表述,仅保留不得减刑的内容,允许对已实际服刑26年以上的罪犯予以假释。对死缓犯终身监禁不得减刑,与我国刑法第50条第2款对死缓犯限制减刑的规定相对应,可以确保终身监禁比限制减刑所对应的刑事政策更为严厉,去除终身监禁的绝对化色彩。There have been many criminal law scholars at home and abroad,who have questioned the constitutionality of life imprisonment on the basis of the principle of respecting human dignity and accurately interpreting the principle of proportionality.However,even for the absolute form of life im-prisonment,commonly referred to as"serving the full sentence without the possibility of parole,"it can be argued in theory that it is more lenient than the death penalty,and has reasonable justification behind the institutional design.Therefore,it should not be deemed unconstitutional.The constitutionality of such punitive measures has also been affirmed through constitutional practices in foreign jurisdictions.In Chi-na,the Criminal Law Amendment IX stipulates life imprisonment exclusively for individuals convicted of corruption and bribery crimes who were originally sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.Although this provision prohibits commutation and parole,it is not easy to draw the conclusion that it is uncon-stitutional.Nevertheless,there is room for improvement in this provision,which is considered to have"overall constitutionality."Consequently,it is crucial to seek harmonious balance between punishment and constitutional values and make appropriate adjustment to the current regulations on life imprison-ment within the framework of the criminal law.In future revisions of the Criminal Law,it is advisable not to include life imprisonment in the general provisions.Instead,life imprisonment should remain limited to an extremely narrow scope of application.Additionally,the phrase"no parole"should be removed from the expression"life imprisonment,no commutation or parole,"retaining only the prohibition of commu-tation.This adjustment would allow for parole for offenders who have served more than 26 years of their sentence.By aligning life imprisonment without parole for those originally sentenced to death with the restriction on commutation for death row inmates as stated in Article 50(2)of the Criminal Law,it ensures th

关 键 词：终身监禁 人格尊严 比例原则 总体合宪性 假释 

分 类 号：D924.1[政治法律—刑法学] D921[政治法律—法学]