Recently, the Yangchang Court of the Xuanwei Municipal People's Court heard a case of a dispute over the right to life that caused death due to the fall of dead branches. The deceased Li and the defendant Xu were villagers of the same village, and the two families were adjacent to each other. In March 2023, while the deceased was working in his own field, a willow tree on the ridge of the defendant's house suddenly fell due to the old age of the tree and neglected management for a long time, and unfortunately hit the deceased's head, causing his death. After the incident, the family of the deceased repeatedly approached the defendant for negotiation, and the village committee also conducted several mediations, but to no avail. As a result, the family of the deceased filed a lawsuit with the Xuanwei Court, demanding that the defendant compensate the plaintiff for his losses.
After investigation by the court, the focus of the dispute in this case was whether the tree that hit the deceased belonged to or was managed by the defendantAfter questioning the staff of the village committee and the villagers of the same village, it was confirmed that the trees involved in the case were planted and managed by the defendant's father before his death, and were indeed owned by the defendant's family. According to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, "if the owner or manager of the forest cannot prove that he is not at fault if the damage to others is caused by the breaking, dumping or falling of the forest, etc., he shall bear tort liability". In this case, the tree involved in the case had been dead for many years and posed a major safety hazard, but the tree manager did not take any measures to prevent the danger from occurring. The court held that the defendant should compensate the plaintiff for certain losses.
As soon as this case was publicly reported, it immediately aroused heated discussions on the Internet. Many netizens expressed concern about the hidden dangers of dead trees in rural areas, and commented that relevant departments should strengthen supervision and remind rural residents to deal with such safety hazards in a timely manner.
It is worth noting that prior to this case, similar incidents had been reported on the Internet. For example, in 2019, there was an accident in a rural village in Hunan Province that caused injuries due to broken branches, and it was also because the dead trees in the farmer's home were left unmanaged for a long time, resulting in the sudden fall of the dead branch and hitting a passing pedestrian, and the worker was injured. This incident has attracted great attention in the local area, and has also sparked a discussion on the management of dead trees in rural areas.
The death of dead trees has had a certain impact on society. On the one hand, this incident has once again drawn attention to the problem of hidden dangers of dead trees in rural areas, and reminded relevant departments and rural residents to pay attention to dealing with such problems. On the other hand, this incident also shocked the people in rural areas with high vegetation coverage, and strengthened the people's awareness of safety and protection of their own rights and interests.
The impact of the whole incident can be made as follows: first, this incident has deepened the public's understanding of the management of dead trees in rural areas and increased public awareness of the problem;Second, after receiving the judicial advice, the relevant departments are expected to take more active actions to strengthen the investigation and removal of dead trees in rural areas to reduce potential safety hazardsFinally, this incident also reminds the public to enhance their safety awareness, actively protect their own rights and interests, and avoid similar accidents.
In the context of this incident, we should also consider the following questions: Is the problem of dead trees in rural areas a common problem?If so, how should we strengthen management and preventive measures?What measures should the relevant authorities take to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents?I hope that readers will actively participate in the discussion and contribute their wisdom and opinions to solve this problem.
In short, in this case, the Xuanwei Municipal People's Court made a reasonable judgment and sent a judicial recommendation to the village committee in order to draw more attention to the management of dead trees in rural areas. It is hoped that the relevant departments can take effective measures to strengthen the management of dead trees in rural areas and ensure the safety of people's lives.