[Editor's note].
Li Siqiang, who was congenitally mentally defective, was arrested and served nine years in prison because he was carrying an identity card of a fugitive. His family said that Li Siqiang had never been to Shantou, Guangdong, where the crime occurred, so he appealed for eight consecutive years, and finally waited for the Guangdong Provincial High Court to start a retrial decision. After reading it, I was also touched, ** The Beijing News reporter wrote "Announcing the start of the retrial!" "The mentally handicapped man was imprisoned for 9 years because he carried the fugitive ID card" The beginning and end of the case", and added a short comment: "* has promoted the retrial of an unjust case, thank you**." The Guangdong High People's Court decided to correct the error despite the public opinion, which is worthy of praise. Unchecked power, unjust justice, everyone will suffer! ”。
I just read Han Xu's article "The Responsibility of Judges and the Lives of Others", and I deeply feel the same way. Han Xu sighed in the article: [How can an innocent person who is thrown into prison to serve 9 years of imprisonment make the people feel "fairness and justice"? In the first place, if police officers, prosecutors, and judges had a serious and responsible case-handling personnel who fulfilled the necessary investigation and verification obligations after discovering "suspicious points", would they have been able to avoid the occurrence of unjust cases? 】
He often wonders: [Does the judge handle more cases and develop the thinking of "presumption of guilt"? Is it that the more cases you handle become "sluggish" or even "numb"? Due to "numbness", they easily let go of the "suspicious points" in the case; Because of their "numbness", they can't listen to different opinions; As a result of "numbness", they become apathetic; Due to "numbness", they are accustomed to stylized work. 】
As a former judicial officer, the current bystander does feel the regression of the judiciary, and often worries that many judicial officers dare not take responsibility and have become numb to the lives of others. So I also took Han Xu's article in the circle of friends, and added the following comment: "The judicial responsibility system is in vain, and now there is basically no responsibility for wrongful arrest and wrongful judgment, the parties and their families are desperately crying out for injustice, even if others know that he is wronged, they will not help, and let unjust, false and wrongful cases happen." I often say, in my opinion,What is a tragedy is that no one is willing to step on the brakes even though they know that it is a wrongful case, allowing the parties to cry and cry out for grievances and watch the wrongful case occur.
[Text].
The responsibilities of a magistrate and the lives of others
(Originally published in Sichuan on 2024-01-30 by Han Xu
Today, I saw a "Beijing News" news in the WeChat circle: Li Siqiang, who has congenital mental defects, was arrested and sentenced to 9 years in prison because he was carrying an ID card of a fugitive. His family said that Li Siqiang had never been to Shantou, Guangdong, where the crime occurred, so he appealed for eight consecutive years, and finally waited for the Guangdong Provincial High Court to start a retrial decision.
On the one hand, it applauded the Guangdong High Court for daring to correct mistakes and initiating a retrial; On the other hand, I am also saddened that Li Siqiang's eldest brother Li Kuixing, who was wrongly convicted in this case, campaigned for such an easy-to-verify case and applied for a retrial for 8 years before he was able to start the retrial.
An unjust case that should not have happened went through the investigation, prosecution, and trial procedures, and the three organs of the public prosecutor, procuratorate, and law finally sentenced an innocent person to 12 years and 6 months in prison for robbery in the name of "legality." Li Siqiang passed away before he could wait for the day of rehabilitation, or even the day of the retrial. However,Before his death, he served nine years in prison
This is a human tragedy, and it also prompts me to thinkHow did this unjust case happen? What is the professional ethics of a magistrate and how do they abide by it? This case must not be disguised by the sentence "the case-handling personnel are not serious in their work." It reminds me of the old adage"The magistrate is not handling a single case, but the lives of countless people. ”It is precisely because it is the life of others that the work of the judge must not be careless. Judges must have a sense of reverence for "trembling and treading on thin ice", reverence for the law, and reverence for the parties. Regrettably, if the case-handling personnel at all stages of the case had a little sense of responsibility, or a sense of responsibility to the parties, the case would not have happened. If they find inconsistencies after comparing their ID cards with their own, they can do a little investigative work, such as questioning the co-defendants, or making some understanding of the family and villagers of the real robber Liu Xiwen, or asking them to identify Li Siqiang's **, the tragedy can be avoided. And none of this is difficult, nor is it complicated
It is expected that after Li Siqiang was arrested, the public security organs did not inform his family within 24 hours in accordance with the law, because the report mentioned that "because in 2003, when he was found to have 'robbed' in Shantou, Guangdong, his younger brother was in his hometown at the time, and everyone in the village can prove it." "In November 2009, in order to verify the true identity of 'Liu Xiwen', Shantou ** rushed to Lixin, Anhui Province to find Li Siqiang's mother and asked her to identify whether the prisoner who was serving his sentence in prison was Li Siqiang. From this, you can judgeThe local ** did not fulfill its obligation to notify the family after the detention and arrest of Li Siqiang。This brings with it a series of things"Secondary disasters"., for example, the family of the prosecuted Li SiqiangThe opportunity to hire a lawyer to defend was lost。It is not known whether the court appointed a defender for Li Siqiang as a mentally handicapped person with limited capacity for criminal responsibility at the time of trial. Even when a legal aid lawyer is assigned, the defense is not as effective as the lawyer hired by the family. Imagine, if it is a lawyer who entrusts a defense, he will be conscientious and responsible for defending because he is "entrusted by others and loyal to others", for example, he will submit an "alibi" certificate that Li Siqiang was still in his hometown in Anhui Province at the time of the crime in 2003 and had never been to Shantou, Guangdong. It also prompted me to think about oursIs the courtroom trial "going through the form" and "failing" in discovering and correcting mistakes? I don't know how far such a trial is from "trial-centrism"? It also prompted me to recognizeThe importance of the right to a defence。For example, if a party or a defender raises a witness favorable to the defense to testify in court, or applies to investigate relevant human or physical evidence and dismisses it rashly, should the case-handling personnel be held accountable for dereliction of duty? Don't wait until after an unjust case has occurred to pursue accountability, there should be a mechanism for accountability in the course of litigation. Otherwise, how can we ensure that judicial personnel strictly enforce the law, administer justice and respect the law? "Let the people feel fairness and justice in every judicial case" is an important goal of the new round of judicial reform. But,The judicial officer's handling of the case in this way is not only indifferent to the legitimate rights and interests of the "people" who are being prosecuted, but also a dereliction of duty. How can an innocent person who is thrown into prison to serve 9 years in prison feel "fairness and justice"? In the first place, if police officers, prosecutors, and judges had a serious and responsible case-handling personnel who fulfilled the necessary investigation and verification obligations after discovering "suspicious points", would they have been able to avoid the occurrence of unjust cases?
I often wonder: Do judges develop the thinking of "presumption of guilt" when they handle more cases? Is it that the more cases you handle become "sluggish" or even "numb"? Due to "numbness", they easily let go of the "suspicious points" in the case; Because of their "numbness", they can't listen to different opinions; As a result of "numbness", they become apathetic; Due to "numbness", they are accustomed to stylized work. "There is no doubt about the guilt" and "doubt is beneficial to the defendant" is the proper meaning of the principle of "presumption of innocence" in criminal proceedings. The standard of proof for a criminal conviction is "beyond all reasonable doubt". However, the ** on the ID card is obviously different from Li Siqiang, isn't this "suspicious"? It's time for us to reflect on whether the judge really "never guilty"? Are statutory standards of proof adhered to? If this case is found to be a "factual error" wrongful case, the case-handling personnel should at least be held legally responsible. Because, if it is not "intentional", it should also be found to be "gross negligence". If the personnel handling the case in this case are not held accountable, it is not enough to warn the judicial personnel and improve the credibility of the judiciary. Several Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Improving the Judicial Responsibility System of the People's CourtsParagraph 2 of Article 25 stipulates: Where a judge intentionally violates laws and regulations in the course of adjudication, or causes an error in adjudication due to gross negligence and causes serious consequences, he shall bear responsibility for the illegal adjudication in accordance with law.
Article 35 stipulates: Where procurators are grossly negligent in judicial case-handling work, neglect to perform their duties, or incorrectly perform their duties, causing any of the following consequences, they shall bear judicial responsibility: (1) there is a major error in the determination of facts or the application of law, or the case is wrongly handled;
According to paragraph 1 of Article 397 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, a person who abuses his power or neglects his duties, causing major losses to public property or the interests of the state and the people, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; where the circumstances are especially serious, the sentence is to be between three and seven years imprisonment. Where this Law provides otherwise, follow those provisions.
In this case, "the interests of the people have suffered major losses" and the social impact is extremely bad, and the criminal responsibility of the case-handling personnel for dereliction of duty should be investigated, so that Li Siqiang, who was wronged, can be comforted, can an explanation be given to the people, and can also effectively prevent the occurrence of judicial wrongs. Therefore, a retrial alone is not enough!