Dehehantong juvenile Protection Committee lawyer see“silent kill”: throat cry injustice, protect the young
The title of “Silent Killing” is a pun, the silent revenge of the victim, the punishment of the perpetrators. In the face of campus bullying, domestic violence and other evil deeds, the silence of teachers, parents and neighbors has led to a series of bad consequences.
Almost every character is Shadowed, their own SINS and punishments buried deep in their souls. From the bully to the bystander, from the victim to the avenger, the lines blur, presenting a gray picture of all villains.
01、school bully bully, need to bear what consequences?
A South Pacific island, a girls' middle school, four school bullies, two bullying, cruel means. They in Hui Jun's birthday, on the grounds of celebration, will be forced to wear the crown of thorns in Hui Jun's head, the crown into a bloody torture device, sharp thorns puncture the scalp, blood flows down.
Huijun's hair was cut with extreme cruelty, mixed with cold water to make an insulting “drink”, forced to swallow, and beaten in the abdomen. In the end, the abusers, who were not yet happy, threatened to adopt the pigeons and forced Huijun to stand on the top of the cracked glass skylight in the school auditorium, causing her to fall to her death on the spot.
At this time, the four little demons saw a human life and fled, but how could they escape the judgment of fate. Hui Jun's father, under the guidance of his former friend, is about to start the prelude of revenge.
So what is bullying among students?
Article 130 of the Law on the Protection of Minors clearly defines student bullying as “deliberate and malicious use of physical, verbal and Internet means to bully or insult the other party, causing personal injury, property loss or mental damage.”
Those who commit bullying need to bear tort compensation liability, and if the circumstances are egregious, they should also bear criminal responsibility.
The behavior of the four school bullies in the film is obviously not ordinary bullying, their behavior is criminal: puncturing the scalp, forcing the “hair soup”, beating the abdomen many times, etc., it is not difficult to see that they have the intention of “intentional injury”. From the perspective of bullying methods, it is not difficult to speculate that the four school bullies in forcing Hui Jun to repeatedly stand on the glass zenith that has cracked and leaked rain, can already predict the consequences of “Hui Jun fall”, even if not intentionally kill, at least intentionally injure people to death.
Would they be criminally liable if the crime had taken place at home (the film was filmed on air)?
Let's go back to the film, Huijun, Xiaotong and the school bullies should be students in the same grade, the age should not be different.
The details in the film point out two points: First, in 2001, Xiao Tong was sexually abused by her stepfather, when she was 9 years old; Second, Huijun's fall occurred in 2005.
Therefore, their age can be inferred to be between 12 and 14 years old. If the 2005 Criminal Law amendment is applied, the four bullies are likely to be exempt from criminal liability because they are under the age of 14.
However, with the continuous development of society, our legal system is also constantly improving, in the 2020 amendment to the Criminal Law, the age of criminal responsibility has been lowered to 12 years old, that is, the third paragraph of Article 17 of the Criminal Law stipulates that “a person who has reached the age of 12 but is not 14 years old commits intentional homicide or intentional injury.” If he causes death to another person or serious injury to another person by particularly cruel means resulting in serious disability, and the circumstances are egregious, he shall bear criminal responsibility after the Supreme People's Procuratorate has approved his prosecution.
For example, the “March 10 Handan junior high school students killed their classmates and buried their bodies”, which triggered a hot debate on the whole network this year, three criminal suspects who were over the age of 12 and under the age of 14 were approved for prosecution by the Supreme People's Procuratorate in April this year.
For another example, on May 7, 2020, a teenager in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, was beaten to death by fellow students and social personnel for stopping school bullying, and the 14-year-old defendant was sentenced to 14 years in prison for intentional injury.
Therefore, if this bullying tragedy happened in today's China, these bullies might all bear criminal responsibility, but because they are under 18 years old, according to the provisions of Article 17, paragraph 4, and Article 49, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Law, they will not be sentenced to death, and will be given a lighter and mitigated punishment.
Back to the film again, when Hui Jun was bullied, little Tong had come forward with scissors for self-defense, wanted to protect Hui Jun, but was stopped by mother Li Han.
So, if Xiaotong, in order to protect Huijun, stabbed or even killed the bully with scissors, should she bear criminal responsibility?
I don't think so, for the following reasons:
First of all, the above hypothetical act should belong to justifiable defense, that is, protecting the person of others from the ongoing unlawful infringement is justifiable defense; Second, the Criminal Code of 2005 did not lower the age of criminal responsibility.
Thirdly, even in accordance with the provisions of the current Criminal Law, it must also meet the “bad circumstances”, “there is a criminal intention to kill or injure people” and “approved by the Supreme People's Procuratorate”, and stop bullying and cause casualties of illegal perpetrators, should not belong to this category.
For example, on May 30 this year, the Supreme People's Court issued guidance cases on the judicial protection of minors, one of which involved “justifiable defense” - the People's Procuratorate of Jishou City in Hunan Province accused the 14-year-old defendant Jiang xx of intentional injury, but the court found that Jiang XX fought back when he was beaten by a number of classmates. Using a multifunctional folding knife (non-controlled knife) to scratch and stab the bully, its behavior constitutes justifiable defense, and Jiang is declared innocent.
Of course, the previous talk is about the criminal responsibility of campus bullying, and in addition to criminal responsibility, campus bullying will inevitably involve civil liability.
Article 1179 of the Civil Code stipulates that those who cause personal damage to others shall compensate for medical expenses, nursing expenses, nutrition expenses, etc. In case of death, funeral expenses and death compensation shall also be paid.
For example, the Xingqing Court concluded a civil compensation case for campus bullying this year, from the perspective of protecting the physical and mental health of bullied minors, according to the law, it supported the victim's compensation for mental damage of 5,000 yuan, and supported the victim's lawsuit request for an apology.
There should be no scars on campus. If bullying is a game, the law will impose a ruler, the family may be burdened, and the morality is difficult to forgive. Be kind to others, that is, be kind to yourself, and should make love and peace the most beautiful scenery on campus.
02、What legal consequences should the teacher who harbors a crime bear?
“Silence kill”, witness the truth of Hui Jun fell from the building Fang teacher, shield the principal's daughter, shut up, and finally the police closed the case with suicide, the bully is more and more arrogant, the victim has no way to complain.
Teacher Fang's behavior is not only a disregard for “campus bullying”, but also a connivance and cover-up of criminal behavior.
Article 310, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Law stipulates that “Whoever, knowing full well that he is a criminal, provides him with a hiding place or property, helps him escape or gives false evidence to cover up, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance; If the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years.”
At the same time, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on several Issues concerning the Application of Law in Handling Harbouring and harbouring Criminal Cases (Legal Interpretation (2021) No. 16) provides that harbouring and harbouring multiple criminals are “serious circumstances.”
In the film, although teacher Fang may really want to cover up, only representative of the powerful principal's daughter Angel, but because of his perjury, the last four school bully can be covered up, without paying any price, obviously has constituted a crime of covering up, and the plot is serious.
Educators should lead their students to the light, not to the dark abyss. If the teacher becomes a hidden person involved in criminal bullying, it is tantamount to a moth corroding the roots of the ancient wood, not only shaking the towering temple of knowledge, but also eroding the rock of social faith in law. Educators should portray themselves as strong beacons of the rule of law and justice that light the way forward for students.
03、What legal consequences should the school bear if it ignores the occurrence of indulgent bullying?
Looking at the details in “Silent Killing”, it can be inferred that the principal knows what the four-person bully group headed by his daughter has done, but still deliberately connives at the bullying phenomenon in the school.
Although in the era of the film, the phenomenon of school bullying was not taken seriously by society, with the frequent search of school bullying, people have paid more and more attention to the topic, and the legal aspects have been improved. On October 17, 2020, in order to better safeguard the rights and interests of minors, a mandatory reporting system was added to the Law on the Protection of Minors adopted by the 22nd session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress.
Article 39 of the Law on the Protection of Minors stipulates that schools and teachers should establish a bullying prevention and control system to promptly stop bullying and punish bullying cases. As a unit and staff in close contact with minors, they found that minors' physical and mental health had been seriously violated and did not report it to the public security department.
The principals and teachers in the film have the responsibility to stop and report to the public security organs and competent departments. If these two cases of bullying were put forward in 2024, the principal and the teacher would be subject to judicial accountability and administrative sanctions for violating the reporting obligation.
In the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a typical case of violation of the mandatory reporting system in 2022, a case of teacher molestation occurred in a primary school in Hefei, Anhui province, however, after receiving complaints from parents, the superior management department of the primary school and the principal of the town center school, Shen, did not fulfill the mandatory reporting obligation, but let teachers and parents negotiate privately to solve the problem. After the masses reported the case, two school principals Shen Mou, Zhong Mou was transferred to the discipline inspection Commission. Finally, Shen was removed from the central school Party secretary, the principal of the post, given a warning within the party; Zhong was removed from his post as vice principal of a primary school and given a severe warning within the party.
In the film, Teacher Fang explains to Lin that he is also an ordinary person and cannot reveal the truth. This hypocrite, full of benevolence and morality, essentially plays the role of an accomplice to bullying.
Under the green shade of the campus, it should be a pure land for the germination of dreams, but it is dusty because of the shadow of indifference and indulgence of bullying. Protecting the pure land in the campus, ensuring that every flower seedling can thrive in the rain and dew of light and integrity, so that the tree of education will be evergreen, the flowers of the rule of law will bloom everywhere, reflecting a more beautiful and just world, which requires the efforts of all people, rather than ignoring and conniving at the existence of “evil”.
04、The implementation of domestic violence mother Li Han, need to bear what legal consequences?
The police from Wu Wang secretly shot the video, found the scene of countless small Tong was beaten by his mother Li Han. Li Han's explanation is that she is disciplining her daughter.
As a mother who has been abused by her husband for a long time and whose life is full of various mishaps, beating her child may be the way to vent her psychological trauma, but no matter how complex the situation is, the violence of parents against their children is not tolerated by the law.
Article 2 of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law stipulates that “domestic violence as used in this Law refers to physical, mental and other violations committed between family members by means of beating, binding, mutilation, restriction of personal freedom, regular abuse and intimidation.”
At the same time, Article 23 of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law stipulates that “if a party applies to a people's court for a personal safety protection order because he has suffered domestic violence or faces a real danger of domestic violence, the people's court shall accept it.”
In addition, Article 49 of the “Family Education Promotion Law” stipulates that those who are lazy in fulfilling their family education responsibilities shall have the right to reprimand and order family education guidance.
For example, in 2024, the Juvenile and Family Trial Division of the Suzhou Industrial Park People's Court issued a “Family Education Guidance Order” for parents of domestic violence, and conducted seven family education counseling sessions to ease the relationship between parents.
For example, in 2022, when the Family Juvenile Trial Court of the Harbin Intermediate Court tried an ordinary divorce case, it found that the father had abused the child and the mother had ignored the situation, and the chief judge immediately notified the local police and the women's Federation to ensure the safety of the child, and assisted the child's grandfather to apply for a Personal safety protection Order, prohibiting the father Xu from abusing the child. At the same time, it also issued a “family education order” to the child's mother, requiring Liang to perform guardianship duties and pay attention to the child's physical and mental health.
Although there was no “Anti-Domestic Violence Law” or “Family Education Promotion Law” at the time of the film, the “Criminal Law” also provided for the behavior of “abuse of family members”, that is, “abuse of family members, if the circumstances are egregious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years, criminal detention or public surveillance.” Whoever commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph, thereby causing serious injury or death to the victim, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than two years but not more than seven years. The first crime shall be dealt with only when told.
For example, in Shangliang Chengchu Case No. 155 (2009), the court held that although Zhong's daughter died due to interstitial pneumonia, the death result had a causal relationship with Zhong's acts of torturing and mistreating his daughter, and finally sentenced Zhong to six years in prison.
Another example is that in 2022, the Shenzhen Luohu Procuratorate announced a case in which a father, who felt his son was too noisy and disobedient, smashed his son's head and blood with angry keyboard, and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for one year.
In the process of carrying out family education, we should be strict and kind, pay equal attention to care and strict requirements, and find a balance between love and rules, rather than going to extremes. Parents can neither be overly indulgent nor overly strict, giving children enough love and care while setting clear boundaries, through appropriate guidance and support to help them build self-awareness and responsibility.
05、Conclusion
The movie says, “The end of enlightenment is the beginning of rebirth.”
“We should reflect on whether students, families, schools and parents can bravely expose injustice, stop the chain of violence from spreading, and prevent more harm.”
“We reject any acts of violence under the cover of kinship, and violence should never be disguised in the name of love!”
We don't want the desperate father in the movie to take the hammer of truth and torture humanity.
Dehe Committee expects that minors can thrive under the nourishment of love.
