鄭國良 G·亚历山大·纳恩 卫晨曙 译 汪诸豪 胡晓凡 校

【摘 要】证人是现代庭审的焦点。证人是目击观察，外行和专家意见以及证据鉴真的信息来源，同时也是出示文书证据，实物证据以及科学证据的媒介。因而，证据法关注—或者可能痴迷于—证人也是不足为奇的。在本文中，我们认为这种证人中心化的视角是陈旧且适得其反的。从历史上看，当大多数证据是个人观察和行为的产物时，以证人为焦点或许是有意义的。但是，现代世界中的证据，常常由标准化、客观化甚至机械化的程式所生成，这些程式很大程度上消解了个人化判断的特点。传统的证据制度依据法律构想和并不妥适的法律程序，未能有效处理诸如法庭科学实验报告，照片，学术论文以及商业记录等基于程式的证据。因而，本文抛弃了这些构想，并提出了一种处理程式证据的普适性新进路。我们所提议的制度改革认识到了程式证据的本体价值，并且提供了一种检验与质疑该类证据的可操作框架。

【关键词】标准化；法庭科学；传闻；对质；证据开示

【中图分类号】D915.13

【文献标识码】A

【文章编号】1674-1226（2022）03-0322-34

Beyond the witness: bringing a process perspective to modern evidence law.Edward K. Cheng, G. Alexander Nunn. Translated by Wei Chengshu, Wang Zhuhao, Hu Xiaofan, China University of Political Science and Law,Beijing 100088.

【Abstract】The focal point of the modern trial is the witness. Witnesses are the source of observations, lay and expert opinions, authentication, as well as the conduit through which documentary, physical, and scientific evidence is introduced. Evidence law therefore unsurprisingly concentrates on – or perhaps obsesses over – witnesses. In this Article, we argue that this witness-centered perspective is antiquated and counterproductive. As a historical matter, focusing on witnesses may have made sense when most evidence was the product of individual observation and action. But the modern world frequently features evidence produced through standardized, objective, and even mechanical processes that largely eliminate individual judgment. The traditional regime handles such process-based evidence poorly, relying on legal fictions and awkward procedures for handling things like forensic lab results,photographs, scientific articles, and business records. This Article therefore discards these fictions and proposes a broad new conceptual approach to process-based evidence. Our suggested reforms recognize process-based evidence on its own terms and provide a practical framework for testing and challenging it.

【Key Words】evidence, process, standardization, forensics, photographs, hearsay, confrontation, discovery