The 5-year-old girl was exonerated from responsibility for paralyzing her dance partner, and the presiding judge responded →

During the dance training class, The 5-year-old girl Xiao Ji helped Xiao Ding to get up after practicing the lower waist, but caused Xiao Ding to fall to the ground and unfortunately suffered spinal cord injury and paraplegia. The court of first instance ruled that Xiao Ji and his guardian should bear 10% of the responsibility, and the training center should bear 90% of the responsibility. Recently, the Intermediate People's Court of Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, changed its judgment in the second instance, ruling that Xiao Ji was not legally responsible, and the training institution should bear more than 2.11 million yuan in various expenses for the injured girl Xiaoding.

Why did the court of second instance make such a change in judgment? What obligations should off-campus training institutions fulfill, and how to improve industry norms? Sun Rui, president of the Intermediate People's Court of Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, who undertook the case, was interviewed by the Voice of China of the Central Broadcasting Corporation of Taiwan and responded.

The 5-year-old girl pulled her companion up and paralyzed her

The first instance judgment found that Xiao Ji and his guardian should bear 10% of the responsibility

After trial, the court found that on December 15, 2018, 19 children, including Xiaoding, a 5-year-old girl who was learning Chinese dance at a dance center in Xinghua City, Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, practiced dance on a yoga mat, and was attended by a professional dance teacher, Xu Mou.

According to the regulations of the dance center, parents are not allowed to enter the classroom when students are in the classroom, and they can watch the children's practice in the classroom through public video in the waiting area.

Sun Rui, chief judge and president of the Taizhou Intermediate Court in Jiangsu Province, introduced the situation at that time: "In the second half of the class, when the teacher asked the children to get up on their lower backs, some children, including Xiaoding, failed to get up in time. At this time, Xiao Ji, who was standing on the right side of Xiao Ding, out of the nature and instinct of mutual support, went forward to pull up Xiao Ding's arms on the ground, causing Xiao Ding to fall to the ground with his back to the ground, and Xiao Ding immediately showed discomfort. At this time, Teacher Xu turned his back on the two children to help the other children get up, and did not perceive these situations. ”

That night, Xiao Ding felt pain in his lower limbs and was diagnosed with thoracolary spinal cord injury and paraplegia after hospitalization. In March last year, Xiao Ding and his mother filed a lawsuit demanding that Xiao Ji and his guardian compensate 2.1419 million yuan for various losses, and the dance center should bear joint and several liability.

Sun Rui: On April 3 last year, the Xinghua Municipal People's Court entrusted the Judicial Laboratory of Jiangsu University to conduct a forensic medical appraisal, and the appraisal opinion was that Xiaoding was paraplegic due to traumatic injury to the thoracolumbar spinal cord, accompanied by severe defecation and urination dysfunction, which has constituted a first-degree disability of human injury, has completely lost the ability to work, and needs long-term care.

The court of first instance found that Xiao Ji and his guardian bore 10% of the responsibility and compensated more than 210,000 yuan. The Dance Center assumes 90% of the responsibility.

The second-instance trial revoked the original judgment and changed the sentence to the girl's exemption from liability

Presiding Judge: Subjectively, there is no intention to harm

In the second instance, the trial was mainly conducted on core issues such as the subject bearing the liability for compensation. Does the dance center have guardianship duties?

Sun Rui analyzed: "The dance center stated in the new student enrollment notice that 'except for open classes, parents are not allowed to enter the classroom without the permission of the teacher during the class, so as not to distract the students and affect the teaching effect.'" This provision makes it impossible for parents to actually perform their guardianship responsibilities during the class, so the dance center should have full supervision, management and protection responsibilities for children who are undergoing dance training during the class. ”

Is there any fault in the management of the dance center? The court held that there was only one professional dance teacher on the day of the incident. During the training of this dangerous dance movement in the lower waist, the dance teacher did not provide waist protection, and the behavior of Xiao Ji pulling up Xiao Ding's arms in front of xiao Ji could not be found and stopped in time, and the education, management and protection duties were not fulfilled, and they should bear the liability for compensation according to law.

Is there any fault with the 5-year-old Xiao Ji? Sun Rui analyzed: "When Xiao Ji was struggling to get up at Xiao Ding's lower back, she spontaneously went to help out of the kindness of her companions, and her behavior was not illegal. As a person without capacity for civil conduct, 5-year-old Xiao Ji subjectively has no intention to harm and objectively does not have the cognitive ability to foresee that his behavior may lead to damage to his peers, so he should not bear the liability for compensation and correct the judgment of the court of first instance. ”

The court of second instance revoked the original judgment and ordered the dance center to bear the liability for Xiaoding's personal injury of 2.1148 million yuan, of which the dance center also needed to pay more than 1.588 million yuan after deducting the previous payment.

Chief Judge: It is recommended to regulate the operation of off-campus training institutions

Sun Rui believes that there is a real need to establish a special protection mechanism for persons without capacity for civil conduct who are out of the scope of guardian management and protection. "Children are in the stage of growth and development, the body's resistance to external intrusions and their own immune system are very poor, the ability to judge things and self-protection is also very poor, they are particularly vulnerable, they belong to the vulnerable groups in society, and they need to be paid attention to and cared for by the whole society, and special protection is given in law."

In recent years, due to the lack of management, irregular operation, and insufficient risk awareness of off-campus training institutions, children have been personally injured during their studies in off-campus training institutions. In such cases, what are the principles of the court's adjudication?

Sun Rui said that according to the provisions of the Tort Liability Law, when a person without civil capacity suffers personal injury during his study or life in a kindergarten, school or other educational institution, he takes whether the educational institution has fulfilled its educational and management duties as the criterion for whether it bears civil liability, and implements the presumption of fault, and when it cannot prove that it has fulfilled its educational and management responsibilities, it is presumed that it is at fault and should bear civil liability.

Source: China Women's Daily