China News Service, Hangzhou, February 28 (Reporter Guo Qiyu) In the case of a woman Gu in Hangzhou who was derailed while picking up express delivery, the People's Procuratorate of Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, on February 26, lawfully accused the defendants Lang and He in a defamation case Initiated a public prosecution to the People's Court of Yuhang District, and the case was changed from "private prosecution" to "public prosecution".
Screenshot of the notice from Zhejiang Provincial People's Procuratorate
When Gu was picking up the courier in the community, he was secretly filmed by Lang.
Lang Mou and his friend He Mou jointly fabricated the ambiguous chat content between "Brother Express" and "Female Owner", and the screenshots were sent to the online platform with secretly shot videos, causing adverse social impact.
Hougu filed a criminal private prosecution.
After investigation, due to changes in the situation of the case, the procuratorial organs prosecuted Lang and He.
What is the legal basis and practical necessity for an ordinary citizen to suffer a defamation case from "private prosecution" to "public prosecution"?
"Private prosecution" to "public prosecution" is in line with legal procedures
When Gu filed a private prosecution and the court has filed the case, whether the public prosecution procedure can be initiated to pursue criminal responsibility is the first due process issue that needs to be resolved in this case.
Regarding this, Jia Yu, the chief prosecutor of the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Procuratorate, said in an interview with Chinanews.com that the case was transferred from a private prosecution case to a public prosecution case, procedurally and substantively.
"First of all, the case is an infringement of citizens' rights of personality. The protection of citizens' rights of personality in accordance with the law is an important manifestation of the implementation of the spirit of the Constitution, and it is also a strong guarantee for the provisions of the Civil Code."
Judging from the legal basis, according to the "Criminal Law" on the crime of defamation, under normal circumstances, the complaint will be dealt with, except for those that seriously endanger social order and national interests.
Jia Yu believes that although the crime of defamation is a private prosecution case, judging from the consequences of the case, it has objectively reached the level of serious harm to social order.
"With the highly developed network society and the comprehensive coverage of citizens' personal lives, the expansion of the traditional offline social order to the online social order has been generally recognized and accepted." Criminal Law Research Office, Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Director Liu Renwen said that from the perspective of criminal legislation and criminal justice providing the society and the public with the guidance of norms of conduct, interpreting such behavior as "seriously endangering social order" into the scope of public prosecution has positive significance and effect.
"Private prosecution" to "public prosecution" is beneficial to case handling
On the basis of corresponding legal basis and theoretical support, the specific judicial practice also "calls" this case from "private prosecution" to "public prosecution".
The Zhejiang Provincial People’s Procuratorate wrote in the case report that, unlike the past oral and community spread of defamation, similar to the online defamation case suffered by the victim Gu in this case, it is hoped that individual citizens will obtain evidence on their own in accordance with the criminal private prosecution procedure or by the public security agency. Assisting in obtaining evidence to prosecute crimes and safeguard rights and interests will obviously encounter numerous difficulties. Only when public security and judicial organs initiate public prosecution procedures in accordance with the law can they prosecute crimes in a timely and effective manner and protect the legitimate rights and interests of victims.
"Internet defamation is extremely lethal. Not only does the victim suffer great physical and mental harm, but also its rights protection methods and evidence receipts are difficult problems." Jia Yu explained that after the case was turned into a public prosecution procedure, public authorities would investigate Collecting evidence is conducive to finding out the facts, punishing crimes in accordance with the law, and protecting the rights and interests of victims and the public interest.
Liu Renwen also believes that if the victim collects and provides evidence to prove the "serious circumstances" in this case, it will be very difficult. It is even more difficult to achieve clear facts and reliable and sufficient evidence.
Therefore, the application of public prosecution procedures is conducive to timely collection and fixation of evidence.
Promote good law and good governance with typical cases
"Everyone in the Internet society may become a victim and a perpetrator. Through the handling of such a case, we have shown the red line of the law to the detractors, held up the judicial umbrella for the innocent, and used the active actions of the judiciary to bring it to the public. More sense of security." In Jia Yu's view, there are special judicial and social values behind the handling of the case.
In the digital age and the Internet field, where the behavior boundaries of citizens are, it is urgent for the judicial authorities to clarify.
Jia Yu said frankly that due to the rapid development of the Internet and the intricacies of the situation, law enforcement and judicial organs sometimes lag behind in follow-up, and the legislative level needs to be more cautious, requiring time accumulation and prudent judgment.
"When we encounter some typical problems at this time, we need to consider the rule of law and new perspectives, and use typical cases to transmit the new concept of the rule of law in the Internet field to the public, regulate public behavior, and strengthen the protection of legitimate rights and interests." Jia Yu said.
In the digital age, network governance has become an important part of social governance.
Professor Che Hao, the deputy dean and professor of Peking University Law School, publicly stated, “In this case, the judicial organs handled the case in accordance with the rules under the rule of law, but the understanding and application of the legal rules is geared towards making ordinary citizens feel The direction of fairness and justice is a virtuous rule of law." (End)