法律研究：关于正在被执行刑罚的翻译问题解答

在《刑事诉讼法》2012年修订后，原本的第26条变为第32条，并且新增条款“正在被执行刑罚或者依法被剥夺、限制人身自由的人，不得担任辩护人”。在目前被普遍认可的联合国人权高专办版本和北大法宝版本中，对于其中的“刑罚”的翻译不同。前者采取了criminal punishment的译法，后者则译为criminal sentence。虽然sentence和punishment两者都有刑罚的含义，但是具体而言又大有不同。美国高院曾对punishment的含义作出如下解释：The imposition of a penalty or imprisonment for an offence.The main purpose of punishment is to protect the community.The deterrence sentence may be passed to protect public，[9]意为punishment是国家惩罚犯罪的一种强制方法，它使犯罪人遭受一定的痛苦和剥夺，并对犯罪人及其犯罪行为予以否定性评价。现代刑罚学理论认为，刑罚应与犯罪相均衡，一是法定刑与犯罪定型要均衡；二是宣告刑与具体的犯罪要均衡。刑罚的目的在于一般预防和特殊预防。现代刑罚的种类一般包括自由刑、财产刑、剥夺资格刑以及其他各种刑罚。而sentence虽然也是刑罚的意思，但限于通过判决确定的刑事处罚，是法院正式宣告对已作有罪答辩或已被定罪的刑事被告人所判处的刑罚的判决。在英美两国，sentence一词有明确的定义。

(1)To impose punishment on a person who has been found guilty of，or pleaded guilty to，committing a criminal offence.It may include entering a conviction against the person，or deciding to defer passing sentence provided that the person complies with certain conditions.

(2)An order relating to punishment made by a court after a person has been found guilty of，or has pleaded guilty to，a criminal offence.In relation to an offence，it includes any order made by a court in dealing with an offender，including a hospital order.[10](www.xing528.com)

即Sentence是对被判决犯任何刑事罪行或者承认犯任何刑事罪行之人加诸的刑罚。实际上是在审判阶段使用的刑事处罚的法律术语，更具有执行性。结合中文本中表述的“被执行刑罚”的语义，此处的“正在执行刑罚”用the convicted in the process of the serve更为合适。