Perhaps among all stages of criminal trial proceedings, the procedure in which the defendant is allowed to make a “final statement” before the court is the most emotional moment. It is the time when the accused shares innermost thoughts, wishes, remorse, sorrow, and anxieties filled with deep reflection.
Life, in the pursuit of livelihood, vanity, and ambition, often pulls people into a vortex where the boundary between Good and Evil becomes fragile and complex. The simplest, most ordinary things in life a loving gaze from family, the wish for reunion, the warmth of home – suddenly become profoundly precious in those last moments when the defendant stands before the dock. After the judgment is pronounced and the prison doors close, a person who was once like a free bird flying across the sky is now confined. The defendant’s final words are not only a personal expression of regret but also a reminder to all present of the supremacy of the law.
The right of the defendant to make a final statement is stipulated under Article 324 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code, specifically:
“The defendant shall be entitled to make a final statement. No questions may be posed to the defendant during the final statement. If, in such statement, the defendant presents any new circumstance of material significance to the case, the Trial Panel must decide to resume questioning. The Trial Panel may request the defendant not to present matters irrelevant to the case but shall not restrict the time for the final statement.”
Thus, both in law and in spirit, the final statement represents the defendant’s repentance and remorse. Where guilt is established, the defendant may seek mitigation of punishment and clemency from the Trial Panel. In practice, there are cases where the lawyer asserts that the accused is not guilty, yet at the final statement directs the client to submit that, if guilty, a reduction of penalty should be considered – a contradiction in itself. If the defendant, during the final statement, introduces new material facts, such as additional accomplices or significant details, the Trial Panel must reopen the questioning process, or in some cases consider returning the case file for further investigation if judgment cannot yet be rendered.
