Immediately commented| principal countered the drunken man's criminal detention, legitimate defense or fight to clarify

The Paper's special commentator Liu Yuting

Another controversial case involving legitimate defence.

According to reports, at 5 p.m. on June 21, in Matou Town, Taikang County, Zhoukou City, Henan Province, drunk Peng Jianfeng broke into the campus of Yangzhuang Primary School, pushed principal Wang Haifeng into the dormitory, and beat Wang Haifeng with his hands. Wang Haifeng fought back, causing Peng Jianfeng to fall in the dormitory. After identification, Wang Haifeng fractured his nasal bone, Peng Jianfeng lost three teeth, and both were slightly injured in the second degree.

The local public security organs determined that the case was a fight, that Peng Jianfeng had obvious faults first, and that Wang Haifeng's criminal behavior was significantly minor. Both were criminally detained on suspicion of intentional injury.

Such a conclusion surprised many netizens. If it is an ordinary fight, it is normal for the law enforcement agencies to "hit fifty boards each" on both sides. The problem is that a drunk man breaks into the campus and hits the first person, and the principal fights back in self-defense. How do you see that the principal is also a very legitimate act of self-relief, how can it be confused with "fighting"?

Judging from the injury appraisal alone, it seems that there is a need to pursue the criminal responsibility of the "murderer" for the crime of intentional injury. However, there is a saying that "justice has a Proteus face", and whoever is injured does not mean that anyone is justified, and those who hurt people are not necessarily held accountable. According to the provisions of the Criminal Law, in order to stop and protect against ongoing unlawful infringement, even if the bodily damage caused to the other party, it should be classified as legitimate defense and there is no need to bear criminal liability.

Teachers and parents at the scene of the incident, leaders and colleagues of the local education department, and most netizens all believe that Wang Haifeng's behavior is legitimate defense, why is the conclusion of the local public security organ so different from it?

In the news report, there is a detail worth noting. According to the police handling the case, at the beginning of the investigation of the case, it was also believed that Wang Haifeng belonged to legitimate defense, "but legitimate defense is really difficult to define." Finally, after "joint consultation" between the Legal Affairs Office of the Taikang County Public Security Bureau and the police station under its jurisdiction, the conclusion of "fighting" and "intentional injury case" was drawn.

It is true that the definition of legitimate defence is not easy. Distinguishing between fighting and legitimate defense has always been a major problem in case-handling practice, but it is difficult to avoid the excuse of definition. As experienced and professional case-handling personnel, we must abide by the principle of "taking the facts as the basis and the law as the criterion". In the handling of this case, the part of the physical conflict between the two sides was invisibly magnified, and the "antecedent fault" was intentionally or unintentionally ignored, which is a regret and even more a regret.

After the Kunshan knife-snatching anti-homicide case that year, the supreme judicial organ continued to release the strong signal that "the law cannot bow to the lawless" through judicial practice to correct deviations and issue guiding cases. The "Guiding Opinions on the Lawful Application of the Legitimate Defense System" issued by the two supreme courts clearly states that "where the party at fault acts first and the means are obviously excessive, or if one party acts first and continues to infringe while the other party strives to avoid conflict, the act of returning the attack shall generally be regarded as a defensive act." According to this, Wang Haifeng's counterattack behavior should be distinguished from the other party's injurious behavior, and whether he enjoys the right to be exempt from legal responsibility in accordance with the law is worth pondering.

On September 22 this year, when talking about the application of the legitimate defense system, Miao Shengming, director of the First Procuratorate of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said that cases that are legitimate defense according to law or have defensive circumstances should be determined. This statement is not only a judicial support for legitimate defense, but also a powerful correction of phenomena such as "peace and mud" in judicial practice.

There is righteousness in the world, and legitimate defense must be activated. The relevant local departments should uphold the spirit of the rule of law, respect the common sense of the public and simple justice, and make a more reasonable determination of this disputed case.

Editor-in-Charge: Gan Qiongfang

Proofreader: Ding Xiao