In the name of "Lao Mouzi", I watched the new film "Article 20" directed by Zhang Yimou during the 2024 Spring Festival, and there were laughter and tears, which I personally think is very meaningful.
Speaking of laughter, the intensive quarrel between Han Ming and his wife is undoubtedly the biggest laughing point, and the children's education, work and life, and parents' shortcomings involved are all real and vivid. said that there was crying, just like "Man Jianghong" in the 2023 Spring Festival, when Yue Fei's "Man Jianghong" was recited hoarsely through the mouth of "Qin Hui", people couldn't stop crying; And when the prosecutor "Han Ming" made a generous statement at the end of "Article 20", emphasizing that "the law cannot give in to the law!" "We are not handling a case, we are working on someone else's life!" It really makes people's hearts surging and tears in their eyes.
Why cry? Because many people have experienced a lot of unfairness, or have seen a lot of unfair things, or they dare to be angry or powerless to change when they see unfair things. The film has always emphasized the need for "fairness and justice" through three cases, so what is "unfair and unjust" in these three cases? - One is a bus driver who wants to seek an explanation for his justifiable self-defense behavior back then, he was sentenced to 3 years for beating a sexual harasser and a perpetrator, and he went to petition again and again, did not work, and finally died in a car accident on the way to petition, leaving behind a minor daughter; A high school student who injured the perpetrator for stopping school bullying almost lost his qualification to study at a prestigious school because of the filing of a case, and his mother was administratively detained for tripping each other and breaking a bone when arguing with the other party's parents; The villagers who couldn't bear the village tyrant killed the village tyrant and almost went to prison, and the deaf and dumb wife was forced to jump off the building ...... by the "sanctimonious" village tyrant's family
I have similar "gray memories": 30 years ago, I experienced school bullying, when I was in the fifth grade of primary school, because I was often praised by teachers for my good grades, I became a "thorn in the flesh" of several "ruffians", smoked in the classroom and asked me to help them throw the cigarette butts, or ...... themThey sat at my desk and stared at me viciously, teasing me, and the expressions and images are still vivid in my mind. The classmates saw it, but no one dared to say it, because they were afraid of them, afraid that they would turn their heads and bully themselves; Twenty years ago, when a certain village committee cadre coerced and lured my father to "change crops" and was rejected, I still remember the face of insulting my father with "bared teeth." For a long time, individual village cadres were actually veritable "village tyrants", and everyone had more than one thing to do, and they didn't want to get into trouble.
However, what these experiences have taught me is that as a teacher and a principal, I am "very cautious" in preventing bullying in schools, and I have repeatedly told all students that if they are bullied or intimidated, they can directly report to me, and they will "never be soft" in dealing with it. It was, is, and will continue to be, no matter how awesome parents are, they must give students the awareness of pursuing "fairness and justice", otherwise, they will also leave the shadow of "injustice" in their hearts, making them afraid of all the "evil forces" in their lives.
Therefore, awakening the awareness of "fairness and justice" through "unfairness and injustice" and popularizing legal knowledge about "legitimate defense" is undoubtedly the greatest significance of the release of the film "Article 20".
In our past experiences and what we have seen and heard, as shown in the film, many "justifiable self-defense" people have been convicted of "intentional injury", why? One is that under the influence of traditional judicial concepts, judicial personnel do not dare to apply Article 20 of the Criminal Law, in the film, Han Ming rummaged through many cases of intentional injury, and he read them to Lu Lingling one by one, "Previous cases have been determined like this." The same is true in reality. Second, the long-standing understanding that "the dead are the greatest", "whoever makes trouble is justified", and "whoever is killed or injured is justified" has objectively also had an impact on the application of the justifiable defense system. Just like the deceased's side in the film, a series of behaviors such as pulling banners and blocking the door have caused a certain amount of pressure on the judicial handling of cases, plus the influence of some "black and white forces", there will be a lot of "law, give concessions to the law!" ”。
Article 20 The biggest theme of this movie is the pursuit of fairness and justice, because ordinary people have encountered too many unfair things, and almost everyone has them. Article 20 of the Chinese Criminal Law on "legitimate defense" is called a "sleeping" law, and this film makes a story about the grassroots prosecutors' pursuit of justice and a story that makes people empathize, which is also a movie that awakens the "sleeping" legal provisions, and a movie that asks for the people's lives.
On China's judicial path, the 2018 Kunshan anti-homicide case began to awaken the "sleeping clause" of the criminal law on justifiable defense. On August 27, 2018, Liu Hailong, the "Brother of Kunshan Dragon", had an argument with Yu Haiming, who was riding a bicycle, 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. Whether the procuratorate is under pressure or really implements Article 20, this is the progress of China's judiciary.
Let's go back to another case, on November 20, 2006, when Peng Yu got out of the car, he saw an elderly man lying on the ground. Without hesitation, he picked up the old man and took her to the hospital. However, the family of the old man believed that Peng Yu knocked down the old man and asked Peng Yu to bear the medical expenses, compensation and other expenses. In the process of the lawsuit, a judge named Wang Hao asked rhetorically: "You didn't hit it, why did you go to help?" Some people say that the judge's words have set back the moral level of our country by 50 years, and the Chinese judiciary by 20 years, and people have begun to become indifferent. In the end, Peng Yu chose to settle, compensated the old man 10,000 yuan, and withdrew the case. As long as you perceive that there will be this risk, you may stand by and watch when you encounter such incidents, after all, at least you will not let yourself get into trouble, so as not to experience "unfairness and injustice", which is a negative impact, and the final results of the three cases in Article 20 are "fair and just" and have a positive impact.
The law is to make it more expensive for bad people to commit crimes, not to make good people more expensive. "There is such a line in the movie, and behind so many legal provisions are four words - fairness and justice. In the movie, whether it is Hao Xiuping, a deaf and mute mother who was bullied by the village bully, or the bus driver who was in an accident but was in an accident for legitimate self-defense, they are all tragedies of the story, and we feel sad for what happened to them, but at the same time, they also add a heavy expectation to the "fairness and justice" of society. In 2020, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security issued the Guiding Opinions on the Application of the Legitimate Defense System in Accordance with Law, which clearly stated that it is necessary to earnestly prevent the erroneous practices of "whoever can make trouble is justified" and "whoever is killed or injured is justified", and resolutely defend the spirit of the rule of law that "the law cannot yield to the lawless".
Article 20 popularizes legal knowledge, arouses everyone's affirmation and admiration for "justice", and the expectation and pursuit of "fairness and justice". At the same time, it also warns us that when "school bullying" and "malicious harm" occur, if we can "dare to take action" and "be willing to take action", then our society can have more "justice".
In a word, when our judicial level and moral level are improved, our social temperature will continue to rise, and we and our families can have more "fairness and justice".