Reflections and Choices on the Judicial Governance of Minor Crime Cases——Starting from Drunk Driving Cases

With the modernization of misdemeanor governance, represented by drunk driving cases, China has gradually formed three coexisting judicial governance models: lenient punishment, unconditional non prosecution, and conditional non prosecution. The concentrated manifestation is the application of probation in the trial stage, which has two theoretical foundations: adapting to the crime and punishment, and negating short-term free punishment. However, it cannot fundamentally solve the problem of serious consequences and insufficient prevention of minor offenses. The unconditional non prosecution model of leniency in the review and prosecution stage, which directly excludes minor crime cases from the scope of criminal sanctions, can completely avoid the occurrence of criminal consequences and reduce the pressure on judicial organs to handle cases. However, it also faces limitations in the application of indulgence in crime and excessive discretion of prosecutors. In recent years, the practice of conditional non prosecution mode, in which the prosecutorial organ decides whether to prosecute according to the supervision and investigation of the actor, has sprung up. By giving play to the function of penalty substitution, correction and prevention, and implementing the external incentive mechanism of governance, it can be regarded as an innovative mode of judicial governance of misdemeanors in the future, but it is also necessary to deal with the theoretical criticism of this mode, the imperfect development of social forces and other applicable obstacles.