The law should provide a solid backing for those who act courageously in the face of justice

Righteousness and courage are the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation and the valuable spirit encouraged and advocated by mainland society. Carrying forward the spirit of righteousness and courage is inseparable from institutional safeguards and the cornerstone of the rule of law. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that it is necessary to develop and strengthen the force of mass prevention and mass governance, and create a social atmosphere of righteousness and courage. The legislative plan promulgated by the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress includes the Law on Rewards and Safeguards for Righteous and Courageous Personnel in the second category of items, that is, draft laws that need to be put forward for deliberation when the conditions are ripe and the conditions are ripe. If this law is enacted and passed, it means that for the first time, the mainland will formally form a unified and special law of righteousness and courage at the national level. Promoting the standardized and systematic development of the legal system for righteousness and courage will help form a more complete judicial system for righteousness and courage, so as to further advocate and protect acts of righteousness and courage, care for the kindness in people's hearts, and put an end to the tragedy of "heroes shedding blood and tears".

For a long time, the mainland's laws, regulations, and various rules and regulations have always been encouraging and supportive of righteous and courageous acts. Article 183 of the Civil Code fully supports compensation for damages caused by acts of righteousness and courage, "If oneself is damaged by protecting the civil rights and interests of others, the infringer shall bear civil liability, and the beneficiary may give appropriate compensation." Where there is no infringer, the infringer has escaped, or is unable to bear civil liability, and the victim requests compensation, the beneficiary shall give appropriate compensation." Many provinces and cities have also issued special local regulations. However, the current laws and regulations have limitations such as strong principles, unclear definitions, and inconsistent provisions at all levels, which have brought about problems such as difficulty in legal identification and insufficient protection of rights and interests in practice. First, in terms of the legal recognition of acts of righteousness and courage, the current laws at the national level lack clear provisions on the concept of acts of righteousness and courage, and it is difficult to unify the criteria for the recognition of local legislation. For example, in terms of the obligation to provide assistance, some localities require that acts of righteousness and courage must be carried out outside of statutory duties or contractual obligations, and that saving acquaintances and friends is not within the scope of recognition; in terms of geographical scope, some places require that the act of rescuing the righteous and courageous act take place locally and must have a local household registration, and sometimes it is difficult to determine because of unclear attribution management; in terms of standards of conduct, some places do not clearly define the act of rescue, and put forward requirements on whether the helper has performed prominently and whether the rescue has been successful. In some cases, the righteous and courageous are sued for intentional injury after stopping the illegal infringement, which not only chills the hearts of the righteous and courageous, but also makes the cost of achieving fairness and justice even more high.

Second, in terms of the mechanism for adducing evidence in the face of righteousness and courage, many localities have more complicated provisions. In the process of recommending and applying for acts of righteousness and courage, some local legislation requires the perpetrators of acts of righteousness and courage or their relatives, beneficiaries, relevant units and departments, and other witnesses to actively provide evidence to prove it. In practice, acts of righteousness and courage are generally sudden behaviors in crisis situations, and sometimes they lack the basic conditions for collecting evidence due to time and space constraints, especially when there is no third person present. In addition, there are cases where beneficiaries or witnesses are reluctant to testify for various reasons.

Third, it is difficult to compensate for damages. On the one hand, there is no clear provision on the standard of appropriate compensation for the beneficiary, and whether the amount of compensation should cover the losses suffered by the righteous and courageous actors, and whether the compensation for moral damages is included are all issues worth exploring; on the other hand, the provision that the beneficiary "may" give appropriate compensation is not mandatory on whether compensation is made, and the rights and interests of the righteous and courageous actors may not be fully protected in the case of insufficient compensation by the infringer. In addition, there are still inconsistencies in categories, content and standards in the incentive and preferential policies in various places, which are not conducive to the play of long-term incentives.

In the future, legislation at the national level may consider responding to social concerns in the following ways.

Clarify the legal concept of righteousness and courage and the burden of proof in investigations. Detailed provisions should be made on the enumeration and exclusion of acts of righteousness and courage, the objects of protection, the scope, and the investigation and review. First of all, acts of righteousness and courage are acts other than statutory duties, statutory obligations or contractual obligations, and many local regulations have similar provisions. At the same time, the understanding of contractual obligations should not be expanded, and should be adapted to the content of the agreement, especially for rescue acts between security guards, auxiliary police officers or acquaintances, it is not appropriate to completely exclude them from the scope of determination, and it is necessary to consider whether the obligations undertaken by them include the rescue acts carried out according to the actual circumstances. Second, establish standardized procedures, work processes, and acceptance deadlines for the identification of righteous and courageous acts, and establish a unified organization and management body, so as to change the situation in which relevant work was scattered in different departments such as comprehensive management, public security, and civil affairs in the past. Thirdly, acts of righteousness and courage are acts of active rescue carried out under critical circumstances, and it is not appropriate to use the higher result requirements such as "outstanding performance" as the criteria for determination, and the same standard may be applied to acts of righteousness and courage committed by Chinese citizens within and outside China. Finally, in terms of the burden of proof in the investigation, in view of the difficulty in presenting evidence, the relevant departments such as the township, street, and unit where the righteous and courageous act occurred may be required to bear the obligation to cooperate in providing proof, especially the beneficiary and witness have the legal obligation to truthfully provide proof. In addition, acts such as framing those who act bravely and infringing on the right to reputation are to be cracked down on in accordance with law, and the methods and standards for civil compensation are refined, and public interest litigation may be conducted or lawsuits may be filed by the close relatives of those who have acted bravely.

Strengthen the protection of civil compensation for civil damages for those who act bravely in the name of justice. The first is to determine the scope of compensation, and on the basis of medical expenses, lost work expenses, funeral expenses, etc., clearly include nursing expenses, transportation expenses, disability living aids expenses, and compensation for mental losses. The second is to clarify the order of liability for compensation, and the relevant expenses can be borne in the order of the infringer and other responsible persons, social insurance, beneficiaries, and administrative compensation. The third is to determine the standards and obligations of "appropriate compensation" in civil damages. On the one hand, the standard of "appropriate compensation" is ambiguous, and the amount of compensation is sometimes limited by whether the righteous and courageous person has fulfilled the duty of care for his own safety, and the scope of benefits for the beneficiary. In order to further protect those who act bravely, a more reasonable cost-sharing mechanism should be established to better match compensation with damage. On the other hand, in terms of the obligation to compensate, in the case that the infringer is difficult to compensate, the provisions that the righteous and courageous person shall take the initiative to request and the beneficiary can choose whether to compensate or not can be changed to strengthen the initiative requirements of the beneficiary, stipulating that the beneficiary "shall" give appropriate compensation.

Improve the back-up function of administrative compensation for righteousness and courage, and give play to the incentive role of rewards and preferential treatment. First of all, administrative compensation is a strong backing to protect the rights of those who act bravely. It is necessary to further explore and broaden the channels for income from administrative compensation funds, and all localities may set up foundations for righteousness and courage in accordance with the law, set up funds for righteousness and courage or special funds, and use financial allocations, social donations, fund income, and other lawful income as sources of funds. At the same time, it strictly manages funds, reserves the right to recover the amount of administrative compensation advanced from infringers and other responsible persons, strengthens long-term follow-up of those who act bravely, and establishes a long-term guarantee mechanism for administrative compensation. Second, in terms of rewards and preferential treatment, uniform provisions are made for the commendation of those who have acted bravely in the face of righteousness, including honorary titles, the subject and amount of bonuses, etc. On this basis, explore the formation of systematic preferential treatment policies, in employment, education, medical care, travel and other aspects of the formation of support for the righteous and courageous personnel, in some areas may consider the spouses and children of the righteous and courageous into the scope of preferential treatment, so as to better encourage the righteous and courageous behavior and carry forward the spirit of righteousness and courage.