➤ Suffered from domestic violence and bullying for more than ten years, until he sued for divorce, he did not dare to go to court, and his divorce claim was rejected by the court.
➤ By assisting with a lawyer's application and the prosecution supporting the prosecution, she finally went to court and ended her nightmarish marriage.
➤ This case not only highlights the role of the procuratorial organs in supporting prosecution in civil cases, but also sends an important signal to the public that they must dare to take up legal weapons and actively seek legal support when they suffer domestic violence.
"How are you doing lately?"
"Fortunately, I've been alone with my children."
"After the divorce, did you ask to remarry him, or did he ask to remarry you?"
"Nothing. He remarried a few days after we divorced, as if divorced again a few months later. ”
……
This is a call record of a recent call between the civil prosecutor of the Wuyi County Procuratorate in Hebei Province and Zhang Mou, a party in a divorce dispute support prosecution case. Although it has been some time since the case was closed, the prosecutor has been worried about Zhang's situation.
The case-handling staff is discussing the facts of the case
The woman suffered domestic violence
The lawsuit for divorce was not upheld by the court
"Please save my daughter!" One day in June 2019, Zhang's mother called the police, saying that her daughter Zhang often suffered from domestic violence and was forcibly taken away by her husband after escaping from home this time. The old man asked the police to rescue the daughter who was "kidnapped" by her son-in-law.
The old man's plea for help is painful and helpless. In the daughter's marital relationship, the terrible shadow of domestic violence has almost never dissipated.
In 2006, Zhang was introduced to Marry Wang Wei (pseudonym) and had a son and a daughter after marriage. Due to personality incompatibility, the two often quarreled over trivial matters, Wang Wei beat Zhang Mou at every turn, and also restricted Zhang Mou's personal freedom, did not allow him to go out alone, and did not let Zhang Bring AN ID Card and Mobile Phone... Finally, Zhang Mou couldn't bear it and escaped from home, but was still found by her husband and forcibly taken away.
The police record shows that after the police at the police station received the alarm from Zhang's mother, they immediately contacted Zhang's husband, Wang Wei. Wang Wei said that he took Zhang out to work and refused to let Zhang return. The police used Zhang's mother's phone to contact Zhang to inquire about his location, and Zhang did not dare to tell the truth. When the police asked Wang Wei to answer the phone, the phone was immediately hung up and has been in a state of refusal to answer. The police drove to the vicinity of Wuyi County to search unsuccessfully, and then went to the criminal police brigade to seek help. Through inquiry, the criminal police brigade found that Wang Wei was driving a vehicle along the highway towards Liaoning. In order to persuade Wang Wei to return, the police found Wang Wei's parents for telephone persuasion. In the end, under the joint persuasion of the police and his parents, Wang Wei drove back to Wuyi.
On June 26, 2019, Zhang filed a lawsuit with the Wuyi County Court, requesting an order to divorce her husband. On August 14 of the same year, the court heard the case in public. Zhang Mou, fearing being caught and beaten by her husband and losing her freedom of movement, submitted written materials to the court on the grounds that she was "ill and unable to participate in the trial", and the entrusted agent attended the court to participate in the litigation.
"Marriage is a major event in life, not a child's play. Both men and women who voluntarily register their marriage should cherish the conjugal feelings between each other, understand each other, and respect each other as guests. "The court held that the plaintiff and the defendant in this case were married for more than ten years and walked hand in hand for a long period of married life. Although the relationship between the two parties is temporarily discordant due to trivial matters of family life, it will not lead to the complete breakdown of the husband and wife's feelings. The two sides should understand and make concessions, live in harmony, strengthen communication and exchanges, and strive to improve the relationship between husband and wife. At the same time, if both parties have children after marriage and are not yet minors, the divorce of parents will have a very adverse impact on the children, and children in this age group need the joint care of their parents to grow up healthily. During the trial, the plaintiff failed to provide evidence to confirm that the relationship between the husband and wife was indeed completely broken. Therefore, in order to take into account the interests of the children, the stability of family relations, and the harmony of society, the plaintiff's request for divorce will not be granted.
On August 23, 2019, the court ruled that Zhang was not allowed to divorce her husband, which made Zhang, who had been beaten and intimidated by her husband for more than ten years, feel pained and desperate, and she came to the Wuyi County Legal Aid Center to request legal aid. In April 2020, Zhang sued for divorce again on the grounds that there was no possibility of reconciliation between the husband and wife.
The lawyer applies
After investigation, the procuratorate decided to support it
"Can your procuratorate intervene in domestic violence cases?" One day in early April 2020, Li Yanling, then director of the Second Procuratorial Department of the Wuyi County Procuratorate, consulted him on the basis of the "Implementation Opinions on Jointly Doing a Good Job in the Payment of Migrant Workers' Wages" issued by the United County Bureau of Justice and other departments of the procuratorate, and when he went to a law firm in the jurisdiction to collect clues about the case of migrant workers seeking unpaid wages.
Under Li Yanling's questioning, the lawyer recounted Zhang's long-term domestic violence and threats, so that he did not dare to appear in court when the court held. This time she sued for divorce because of domestic violence, and the Wuyi County Justice Bureau designated us to provide legal aid. In such a case, if the procuratorate can support the prosecution, it should be better in terms of the balance of litigation rights and the effect of the accusation. The legal aid lawyer said to Li Yanling with great anticipation.
After returning to the hospital, Li Yanling consulted his peers, inquired about the legal basis, and asked the Hengshui City Procuratorate for instructions and reports. After preliminary research, the court held that when the injured party in a domestic violence case is a vulnerable group and its lawful rights and interests cannot be properly protected, the procuratorial organs should support them and protect their lawful rights and interests.
After receiving a positive reply, Li Yanling and other procurators handling the case took a reassuring pill. Subsequently, they contacted Zhang in time to further understand the situation -
"Why sue for divorce?"
"My husband often beat me, and there is no possibility of reconciliation between husband and wife."
"Do you have evidence of being beaten?"
"Yes."
"What more do you want?"
"I ask the procuratorate to protect the vulnerable groups and support me in prosecution."
After carefully reviewing the files of the original court of first instance and communicating with the original first-instance legal aid lawyer in Zhang's divorce dispute case, the procurator handling the case inquired zhang in detail about the relevant situation. By consulting Zhang's injured photos, WeChat call records, Zhang's mother's alarm materials, public security police station police records and other evidence confirmed: Zhang's husband Wang Wei repeatedly beat Zhang, causing Zhang's face and neck to be bruised and his eyes to be congested; The frequent intimidation and other mental coercion carried out by Wang Wei caused Zhang to dare not appear in court during the first divorce lawsuit.
"Our bureau accepted Zhang Mou's divorce case, in order to effectively protect the vulnerable groups, I hope that your unit will support the prosecution and help protect the rights and interests of the vulnerable groups." On April 12, 2020, the Wuyi County Bureau of Justice sent a letter to the Wuyi County Procuratorate.
In summary, the Wuyi County Procuratorate's research believes that the Wuyi County Court did not find Zhang's husband's domestic violence at the first trial, and ruled that the two parties were not allowed to divorce, and the marital relationship between Zhang and her husband was not alleviated after the judgment took effect. Zhang's husband repeatedly committed domestic violence against Zhang, which has caused multiple bruises on his face and neck, congestion of his eyeballs and other physical injuries, and after the first judgment was not allowed to divorce, Zhang's husband did not repent, and intimidated and threatened Zhang and other mental injuries. Zhang Mou is a vulnerable group, and his children born in wedlock are minors, so they should safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of women and children, and according to Article 15 of the Civil Procedure Law, they should be supported for prosecution.
Support prosecution in accordance with the law
Help the weak woman bravely go to court
"When studying whether Zhang's case could be identified as 'domestic violence' in the sense of the Marriage Law, at first, the opinions of the prosecutors were divided." Li Yanling said that domestic violence, referred to as domestic violence, refers to the behavior that occurs between family members, and causes certain harmful consequences to the physical and mental aspects of family members by beating, binding, mutilating, forcibly restricting personal freedom or other means, and is expressed in the form of direct violence and mental violence (also known as soft violence). The object of domestic violence is the victim's personal rights and the basic rights of citizens, including the rights to life and health, personal freedom, personal dignity, housing, freedom of communication and so on. In the course of handling cases, after consulting court judges and senior lawyers, the procurator found that the domestic violence in the case could reach the level of "domestic violence" in the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China, and the parties also had different opinions.
After many studies, the procuratorial organs believe that the evidence of Zhang's beating is only two photos after being beaten, a police record, and Zhang's husband admitted to beating Zhang's WeChat chat records, these scattered evidence is difficult to form a chain of evidence that Zhang has been beaten "many times", and his being forcibly taken back to his trapped home without freedom of movement is even more lacking in key evidence, and it is difficult to determine whether the degree of injury he suffered and the frequency of being injured reached "domestic violence" in the legal sense. However, in order to protect the victims to the greatest extent, the Wuyi County Procuratorate believes that Zhang mou has been beaten, threatened and intimidated, and his exercise of procedural rights is restricted, and he can be identified as a vulnerable group, and the procuratorial organs can support the prosecution.
After deciding to accept the case, the court issued a notice to Zhang, which, in addition to informing Zhang that the procuratorate had decided to accept the case, also indicated the name and contact number of the procurator responsible for handling the case, and attached a "Notice of Rights and Obligations".
"In the divorce dispute between Zhang and her husband, the Wuyi County Bureau of Justice transferred it to our hospital to support the prosecution, and this court decided to accept the review, which has now been concluded." On April 16, 2020, the Wuyi County Procuratorate issued a "Support for Prosecution Opinion" to the Wuyi County Court, holding that Zhang belonged to a vulnerable group and his legitimate rights and interests should be supported. In accordance with Article 15 of the Civil Procedure Law, it was decided to support the prosecution.
"When submitting the "Opinion in Support of Prosecution" to the court, there was also a procuratorial file attached, which was later packed in the court file, and the procuratorial file contained the main evidence that Zhang had suffered domestic violence: the transcript of the procurator's interrogation of Zhang, the WeChat voice and text collation of Zhang's husband, the police report record of Zhang's mother, and 4 photos of Zhang after he was injured twice." Li Yanling said that Zhang's interrogation record proves that her husband often beat her, and her own wish is to hope that the procuratorate will support her prosecution; Zhang's mother reported to the police station on June 2, 2019 to prove that Zhang was frequently beaten by her husband and forcibly picked up on the same day; photos of Zhang after being beaten twice prove that she was beaten on April 4 and May 27, 2019; WeChat chat records provided by Zhang. It proves that Zhang's husband admitted to hitting Zhang when chatting with him on WeChat on August 13, 2019.
When submitting legal documents and evidence, the procurator handling the case also communicated and reminded the presiding judge about Zhang Mou's inability to attend the court due to threats and intimidation during the handling of the case.
On May 26, 2020, the Wuyi County Court heard the case in public. In court, the procuratorial organ's "Opinion in Support of Indictment" was read out. Because the Wuyi County Procuratorate supported the prosecution, Zhang Mou was no longer as afraid to show his face as before, but stood up and bravely confronted her husband in court.
The court awarded divorce
Victims of domestic violence get out of their nightmares
"Although the plaintiff and the defendant have been married for a long time, due to their personality and temper, they have disputes from time to time after marriage, and they are unable to live together, and the feelings of the husband and wife have completely broken down, the plaintiff insists on divorce, and the defendant agrees to divorce, which should be allowed." After conducting a full investigation and verification of the property situation, debt situation, marital child situation, and marital status of Zhang and her husband, the court held that the agreement signed by the two parties in May 2009 stipulated that all the joint property of the husband and wife in the marriage belonged to the defendant, and all the joint debts of the husband and wife in the marriage were repaid by the plaintiff, and the agreements agreed upon in the two marital properties and debts were obviously unfair and infringed on the legitimate rights and interests of the other party, so the two agreements provided by the defendant were not accepted according to law.
On May 28, 2020, the court's first-instance judgment granted Zhang and her husband Wang Wei a divorce; Zhang was responsible for custody and raising his son, and Wang Wei was responsible for custody and raising his daughter; and the joint property of other husbands and wives was divided. On July 1 of the same year, Wang Wei filed an appeal. On July 15, 2020, the Hengshui Intermediate Court made a civil mediation statement: the parties agreed to divorce, Zhang was responsible for guardianship and raising of his daughter, Wang Wei was responsible for guardianship and raising of his son, and the two parties reached an agreement on child support and the division of joint property between husband and wife.
"After supporting the prosecution, we proactively contacted the court to pay close attention to the trial of the case, especially after Zhang's husband appealed, analyzed and judged the trend of the case, and timely grasped the final judgment or mediation results." The procurator handling the case analyzed that in the judgment of the Wuyi County Court, the court held that the photos of the injuries provided by the procuratorial organs and the police records of Zhang Mou's family were all documentary evidence, which had a high probative force and were accepted; combined with multiple evidences such as domestic violence photos and telephone recordings, the Wuyi County Court finally found that the feelings between the two parties were completely broken, and the judgment granted divorce, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of vulnerable women. In the court judgment, the provisions of Article 39 of the Marriage Law were invoked to take care of and protect Zhang in the distribution of property.
"I've gotten rid of my nightmares and lived a normal life." In the summer of 2021, the procurator handling the case twice conducted a telephone follow-up visit to Zhang. One is to understand whether after one year of divorce, life has returned to normal, whether there is a salary income, and whether the two children have been reasonably arranged; the other is to understand whether his ex-husband has harassed his life and whether his mental state has improved. Zhang told the prosecutor that she now lives in a foreign country and has a stable salary income. "Without the timely intervention of the procuratorate to support the prosecution, there would be no peaceful life for me now." Zhang said with emotion.
♦
Source/Prosecutor's Daily
Editor-in-Charge/Chen Xiaobing
Review/Zhifei
Producer/Xi Shujun
