In ancient times, Cixi Lafayette of the Qing Dynasty listened to the government, and the existing Haixi Intermediate Court "listened to the court"!
On May 13, 2024, in the Tianjun County People's Court in Qinghai, a case involving 12 people was being heard. However, an unexpected discovery during the adjournment caused the entire trial process of the case to fall into the whirlpool of public opinion.
During the adjournment, a defense lawyer noticed that the presiding judge was in the middle of a seven-group chat with a social networking app logged into the presiding judge's computer. The content of the conversation in the group chat, such as "no need to discuss with him" and "interrupt and be tough", aroused the lawyer's vigilance.
The fact that the participants in these dialogues included the leaders of the courts and the judges of the higher courts, raising doubts about the existence of remote control of the trials.
Faced with this discovery, the lawyer immediately took action and tried to preserve evidence from the scene. Who knows that the series of actions of the court staff – blocking the screen, unplugging the power supply – seemed to be trying to destroy or divert the evidence.
In order to protect the integrity of the evidence, the lawyer called the police, and the police quickly arrived at the scene and took pictures and sealed the scene.
Later, the lawyer posted the photos in the media, hoping to attract public attention. Although this behavior has aroused widespread public opinion, it has also been criticized by local courts.
In a subsequent briefing, the court noted that the defence counsel's conduct violated court discipline and interfered with the normal conduct of the proceedings.
Based on the contents of the Rules of the Court, the author has searched the following:
The courtroom is usually divided into two main sections: the trial area and the observer area. The two areas are clearly separated by physical separation, such as railings, to ensure the solemnity of the trial and the order of the observers. In this arrangement, the lawyer works on the defence bench, which is located in the trial area.
According to the layout and rules of the court, the lawyer was actually in the prescribed trial area when performing his duties, and there was no so-called "trespassing on the trial area". This is a key factor that must be taken into account in the evaluation of a lawyer's conduct.
The defence lawyer issued a six-point statement
The team of defense attorneys did not back down. In the form of a six-point statement, they forcefully responded to the court's circular.
In the statement, the lawyers explained in detail that their actions were necessary in an emergency situation where evidence could be destroyed, and stressed that the court should be subject to media scrutiny. They demanded that chat logs and live videos be released to clarify the facts and called on higher-level departments to step in and investigate.
The Douyin account of the Intermediate People's Court of Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture closed the comment area
The public is calling for the release of WeChat group chat logs and trial surveillance videos to clarify concerns. At present, only screenshots of WeChat group chats have been circulated, and there is no video evidence of lawyers toppling court staff. As the discussion intensified, the official announcement account has closed the comment area.
Update
According to the latest official report, there have been cases of lawyers who have engaged in misconduct during court proceedings, which is considered to have seriously interfered with the normal flow of the court's work.
In addition, it is worth noting that the family members of the defendants in the case uploaded some photos to the Sina Weibo platform after the incident, and these photos quickly aroused widespread attention and discussion on the Internet, forming a public opinion incident.
At the same time, the circular also mentioned that although the Haixi Prefecture Intermediate People's Court followed the relevant regulations when guiding the trial work of the lower courts, there were some irregularities in the specific supervision and management measures. This was made clear in the briefing, with hints at possible problems and areas for improvement.
Write at the end
In this controversy over judicial fairness, we see the steadfastness of defense lawyers and their defence of the spirit of the rule of law. Their actions, although they may seem too drastic to some, are undoubtedly respectable in their persistent pursuit of the truth on the path of the rule of law.
We have reason to believe that after an in-depth investigation, the truth will eventually be revealed to the world. In the temple of the law, every judgment is a watch for justice. Let us look at every controversy and every trial with a more rational and fair attitude. Because the light of the rule of law needs to be guarded by us.