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Recently, the movie "Article 20" has aroused widespread public attention. The film is made up of three stories that happened to prosecutor Han Ming: the defendant in a previous case was dissatisfied with the outcome of the handling and believed that he was justified in defense rather than intentional injury; The son has been refusing to apologize for injuring the dean's son in order to stop the school bullying; There was a dispute over the determination of an intentional injury case undertaken by colleague Lu Lingling, and the deputy procurator general changed the undertaker and designated himself to host the ......
The film shows Han Ming's inner growth, and also comprehensively and systematically presents the process from his perspective from not daring to apply and unwilling to apply to applying the legitimate defense system in accordance with the law to maintain fairness and justice.
What does "Article 20" refer to in the title? How do we understand the "justifiable defense" in the film? Let's take a look
What does Article 20 of the Criminal Law provide?
The movie "Article 20" refers to Article 20 of the Criminal Law, that is, the "legitimate defense" clause. Article 20 of the Criminal Law clearly states:
Where an act taken to stop an unlawful infringement is taken in order to protect the state, the public interest, or the person, property, or other rights of oneself or others from an ongoing unlawful infringement, and causes damage to the unlawful infringer, it is justified defense and does not bear criminal responsibility.
Where legitimate defense clearly exceeds the necessary limit and causes major harm, criminal responsibility shall be borne, but punishment shall be commuted or waived.
Anyone who takes defensive action against an ongoing crime, homicide, robbery, kidnapping, or other violent crime that seriously endangers personal safety, causing an unlawful offense, is not considered to be in excessive defense and does not bear criminal responsibility.
Justifiable defense is the key word throughout the narrative of the movie "Article 20". Han Ming's son saw that some classmates were bullied and bravely reached out to help; Zhang Guisheng, a bus driver, saw that the female passenger was bullied by the man, and in anger, he smashed the man and injured ......The film uses realistic themes and the perspective of small people as an incision, and tells the axioms and human feelings behind the law through the form of art.
The law is not cold logic".
The Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a series of film reviews
Director Zhang Yimou said in an interview with a reporter from the main station that this movie is made for thousands of audiences, because the story of the movie contains many problems that everyone faces together and can resonate with the public.
Regarding this movie, the Supreme People's Procuratorate also issued two film reviews in a row, pointing out that the story in the movie "is something that really happens to our people, which seems far away, but it may happen to us from time to time."
The film review also mentioned that "Article 20" is not only a movie with a legal theme, but also a life film that belongs to everyone, which will affect a person's sense of right and wrong and sense of justice.
The law is not cold logic".The Supreme People's Procuratorate explained "legitimate defense" in layman's terms: "Why can't you fight back if you are beaten?" What's wrong with acting bravely? After being repeatedly tortured and humiliated, facing major personal safety, why can't you bravely resist? Justice should have its own confidence. When people are protecting themselves and others, we can't be too harsh. ”
The Sleeping Clause "is awakened."
Where does the confidence of justice come from?
The law cannot bow to the lawless", is a line that appears many times in the movie. Ji Bingxue, director of the Office of the First Procuratorate of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said that in judicial practice, this sentence refers to the fact that a right cannot be subjugated to an act that infringes on this right. The relationship between the defensive act and the unlawful infringement is the relationship between the law and the illegality, and if the defender is unlawfully infringed, the infringement is illegal, and the defensive act is justified.
Ji Bingxue said: China's law encourages citizens to exercise their right to legitimate defense in accordance with the law. But for a long time, some people called the justifiable defense system a "sleeping clause", mainly because:
In cases involving legitimate defense, the facts and evidence are often relatively complex, and in some cases there is a lack of evidence, resulting in some major controversies in the determination;
Influenced by traditional judicial concepts, judicial personnel dare not apply them;
Many people believe that "the deceased is the greatest, and whoever makes trouble is justified, and whoever is killed or injured is justified," and this has objectively had a certain impact on the application of the justifiable defense system.
Ji Bingxue said that in 2018, the Kunshan anti-homicide case woke up the "sleeping clause". In recent years, judicial organs have handled a number of legitimate defense cases that are of great concern to the society in accordance with the law, and the spirit of the rule of law that "the law cannot yield to the lawless" has also become a concept that procurators must follow in handling such cases.
Details of the Kunshan anti-homicide case:
On August 27, 2018, Liu Hailong got into an argument with Yu Haiming, a cyclist, on Zhenchuan Road in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province. Liu Hailong took out the machete and hit Yu Haiming continuously, and then Yu Haiming grabbed the machete and stabbed and slashed, and Liu Hailong was injured and died. In the end, the prosecution determined that Yu Haiming's actions were justified defense and did not bear criminal responsibility.
What kind of justice and human feelings are behind Article 20 of the Criminal Law?
In the process of watching the movie, many people felt that the prosecutor Lu Lingling in the movie was "too competitive", and there was obviously a surveillance video, but she still had to find evidence, which made everyone unhappy, and the case could not be completed for a long time. The reason is in her lines: "We are not handling cases, but other people's lives." ”
According to Ji Bingxue, this sentence has gradually become the motto of judicial personnel in recent years. It emphasizes that judicial personnel should stand more in the position of the parties and understand the demands of the parties when handling cases. "A case may be part of the work of judicial personnel, but for the parties, it involves whether the crime has been punished in accordance with the law, whether the rights of the victim have been protected in accordance with the law, and whether fairness and justice have been served, which may affect the entire life of the party. ”
Ji Bingxue said that the main body that feels fairness and justice is the broad masses of the people, including the parties to the case and those who care about the case. Procurators should seek the best results in the space of legal discretion, so that the people can fully feel fairness and justice. "Prosecutors are not only the prosecutors of crimes, but also the protectors of innocence, and they should strive to become leaders in the progress of socialist legal awareness and the rule of law with Chinese characteristics. ”
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