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Press releases
On October 14, 2021, on the day of Chongyang Festival, the Xicheng District People's Court of Beijing Held a Briefing Meeting on "Typical Cases of Diversified Mediation and Escort of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly", inviting Zhao Ying, member of the party group and director of the Political Department of the court, Zhang Hui, president of the case filing division, and Judge Liang Liang to report on the characteristics of typical cases of family disputes among the elderly, the trial situation and the special mechanism of the court.
Case Focus
The heir Luo was born in Taizhou, Zhejiang. Luo and his wife Wu have a pair of children after marriage. In June 2019, Luo Mou died of illness. At the beginning of 2021, Luo's family sued the court, hoping that the court would help solve the inheritance problem of multiple houses and vehicles in the family. After the Xicheng court accepted the case, it assigned the case to a people's mediator for pre-litigation mediation. After reviewing the files and questioning the parties, the mediator learned that one of the heirs, Mrs. Luo (Luo's mother), who was over 90 years old, was unable to come to Beijing in her hometown of Taizhou, Zhejiang. The mediator contacted Mrs. Luo, who was far away in Taizhou, and found that Mrs. Luo could neither understand nor speak Mandarin, and was unable to communicate normally with the court staff. To this end, the mediator contacted the judge at the first time, and after consultation, decided to use the "Beijing Court Cloud Court" to let the elderly man sit at home in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, and also participate in the mediation of the Beijing court, and at the same time contact the villagers' committee where the old man is located, invite the local grass-roots party organizations to send people to participate in online mediation, and do on-site translation for Mrs. Luo. During the trial, Mrs. Luo made it clear that she had no worries about food and clothing, and that she was happy in her old age, and gave up the right to inherit Luo's inheritance. In the end, the four legal heirs in this case signed an inheritance agreement in a friendly and peaceful "cloud mediation".
Judge's Interpretation:
According to Article 1127 of the Civil Code, the spouse, children and parents of the heirs are the first in line of succession and shall enjoy the legal right of inheritance. Therefore, Mrs. Luo and her daughter-in-law Wu and two grandchildren in this case have the right to inherit Luo's estate. The special feature of this case is that Mrs. Luo is too old to come to Beijing for litigation, and there are communication barriers, and it is difficult to protect her legitimate rights and interests in traditional mediation methods.
Characteristics of family dispute cases involving the elderly:
First, the types of family dispute cases involving the elderly are relatively concentrated, and are commonly found in inheritance disputes, divorce disputes and maintenance disputes. For example, nearly half of the divorce lawsuits accepted by the court are filed by people over the age of 60. The elderly are increasingly at high risk of divorce.
II. It is difficult to ascertain the facts of cases involving family disputes involving the elderly, and the trial period is long. There are many parties and complex claims of interests in such cases, especially in inheritance cases, where legal relationships such as transfer inheritance and subrogation inheritance are intertwined, the types of property involved in the case are diverse, and the kinship relationship is hidden, resulting in more appeals from the elderly involved in the case, difficulty in communication, and difficulty in ascertaining the facts of the case, such as the inability to reach mediation, and the trial cycle is much higher than that of ordinary civil and commercial cases.
Third, the automatic performance rate of successful mediation of family dispute cases involving the elderly is relatively high. Although it is more difficult to try family dispute cases involving the elderly, after successful mediation, the parties generally have a high acceptance of the mediation results.
Interpretation of Multiple Mediation Mechanisms:
First, explore the "Fengqiao experience" in the new era and build a new model of "separation of complexity and simplicity". Establish a special multi-mediation management team to centrally manage the multi-dispute resolution forces of the whole court, and implement the litigation and mediation docking mode of mediator preliminary investigation, judge assistant tracking mediation, and judge guidance and check, to ensure that the efficiency of mediation is further improved and the effect of mediation does not decrease. At the same time, the governance of litigation sources, diversified dispute resolution and judicial confirmation will be seamlessly linked, and the efficiency of dispute resolution will be actively improved. Where cases involving the elderly are given priority in filing and immediate mediation, judicial confirmation and the issuance of mediation documents are carried out at the first time.
2. Establish a warm mediation room, create a good mediation atmosphere, and promote the parties to reach a settlement. The Xicheng Court's Multiple Dispute Resolution and Litigation Mediation Docking Center has set up a number of special mediation rooms such as the "Law of Reason", where people's mediators are specially invited to conduct pre-litigation mediation work. The intervention of multiple mediation forces has transformed the trial mode of "sitting in the court for questioning" in the past into warm heart-to-heart communication, effectively promoting the real resolution of family conflicts and promoting the parties to shake hands and make peace.
Third, move forward the mediation threshold and actively broaden the channels for mediation. At present, the Xicheng court has established a case orientation delegation mechanism with a number of street people's mediation organizations in the jurisdiction to open a green channel for family dispute cases involving the elderly.
IV. Integrate the work of resolving multiple disputes with the construction of smart courts to better meet the diverse judicial needs of the masses. The Xicheng court has increased the intensity of online diversified mediation work, and the pre-litigation mediation stage focuses on promoting online mediation on the basis of fully meeting the needs of parties for diversified dispute resolution, and gives priority to guiding online mediation for parties in different places and foreign countries, so that the parties can stay at home and realize the conclusion of the case. However, at the same time, for some elderly people and the masses who do not agree and are not suitable for online mediation work, our hospital also fully respects their choice of right of action, and offline mediation work is carried out simultaneously to eliminate the "digital divide".
The judge recommended:
First, the elderly should "do something for the elderly"
"Mo Dao Sang Yu evening, for Xia Shang full of heaven." The elderly are a valuable asset for the whole society. In life, the elderly should strengthen communication and exchanges, pay attention to emotional cultivation, establish full trust, reduce utilitarian family relations, and deal with property and children's issues. The elderly should lead by example, create a good family atmosphere, and establish a good family style.
Second, children should "often go home to see"
"Whoever says anything will be rewarded with three Chunhui." "Often go home to see" is not only a clear provision of the law, but also a favorable measure to prevent the rights and interests of the elderly from being infringed.
Third, all sectors of society should strengthen the care for the elderly
All sectors of society should cultivate a good atmosphere for protecting the rights and interests of the elderly and give full play to the exemplary role of grass-roots party organizations. In advance, it is necessary to further strengthen the popularization of law on the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly, so that more and more elderly people know and understand the law. In the course of the matter, it is necessary to make full use of the power of diversified mediation, create conditions to promote communication and exchanges between the elderly and others, and use judicial warmth to resolve conflicts. At the same time, the right of the elderly to participate in social development and share the fruits of development should be fully guaranteed, and the spiritual and cultural life of the elderly should be enriched.
Help the elderly to pass on the family for a long time, respect the elderly and respect the elderly. It is hoped that through this briefing, all sectors of society will pay more attention to, care for and care for the elderly, further attach importance to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly, develop the cause of aging, and create a good social atmosphere of respecting the elderly for morality, respecting the elderly for good, helping the elderly for fun, and loving the elderly for beauty.
Source: People's Court News and Media Headquarters
Author: Meng Xiangyu | Correspondent: Dai Ruidi | Editor: Li Gaokai