社会知识在司法中的运用及其优化
作者简介:于龙刚,中南财经政法大学法学院副教授(湖北武汉 430073)。
摘要: 社会知识在司法中的运用有多种形态,其中比较重要的是法官运用自身社会知识来还原案件事实、与当事人进行有效沟通,并妥善解决纠纷。法官所拥有的社会知识涵盖了对纠纷背景事实、当事人以及社会常识常情常理的认识与理解。这种丰富的社会知识赋予了法官对案件事实的洞察力、作出司法决定的直觉判断力,以及解决纠纷的实际行动力。法官的社会知识不仅根植于个人的生活阅历和社会经验,更是通过司法的制度机制得以强化和保障。司法的一系列制度机制促进了法官之间社会知识的交流与分享,保证法官的社会知识与公众普遍认知相贴合,并且有效地激励和约束法官对社会知识的合理运用。近年来,法院争议性判决的多发表明,进一步提升法官群体的社会知识水平,优化社会知识的运用仍然十分重要。这不仅需要改革和完善司法的相关制度机制,同时也需要引入社会科学的知识与理论,从而改善司法的社会效果,增强公众对司法的信任。
The Application of Social Knowledge in Judicial Practice and Its Optimization
Abstract: The application of social knowledge in the administration of justice takes various forms, one of the more important forms being the use of the judge's own social knowledge to restore the facts of a case, to communicate effectively with the parties, and to resolve disputes appropriately. The social knowledge possessed by the judge covers the knowledge and understanding of the background facts of the dispute, the parties and the common sense of the society. This rich social knowledge gives judges insight into the facts of a case, intuitive judgment to make judicial decisions, and ability to take action to resolve disputes. Judges' social knowledge is not only rooted in personal life experience and social experience, but also strengthened and guaranteed through the institutional mechanism of justice. A series of judicial institutional mechanisms promote the exchange and sharing of social knowledge among judges, ensure that the social knowledge of judges is in line with the general public perception, and effectively incentivize and constrain the reasonable use of social knowledge by judges. In recent years, the high incidence of controversial court decisions shows that it is still important to further enhance the social knowledge of the judges' community and optimize the use of social knowledge. This requires not only reforming and improving the relevant institutional mechanisms of the judiciary, but also introducing knowledge and theories from the social sciences, so as to improve the social effects of the judiciary and enhance the public's trust in the judiciary.