Study on the Prosecution-Defense Balance in the Plea and Penalty Leniency System

Since the system of plea bargaining and leniency was written into the Criminal Procedure Law in 2018, it has become an important part of the criminal procedure in China. The balance between prosecution and defense is the key to the good operation of the leniency system of plea bargaining, and whether or not the balance between prosecution and defense is reached relates to whether or not the system can operate normally. However, in the practice of the system, there exists unequal status of prosecution and defense, asymmetric information of prosecution and defense, and unequal negotiation ability of prosecution and defense. The "path dependence" of the system reform on the original authoritarianism, the "personal tendency" of both the prosecution and the defense, and the conservative system design are the main reasons for the imbalance of the prosecution and defense relationship in practice. Through the establishment of the concept of plea bargaining system, the automated behavior and behavioral inertia, clear system of the accused to start the right to deepen the implementation of the prosecution to explain and inform the obligation to improve the accused to strengthen the protection of the right to defense, the court to strengthen the review of the court hearing, and to build an effective judicial remedy, with a view to solving the problem of imbalance in the plea of guilty to punishment, and ultimately to achieve the equality of the prosecution and defense.