As of the end of 2021, more than 10,000 personal safety protection orders have been issued nationwide, of which 3,356 will be issued in 2021, protecting the personal safety and personal dignity of victims of domestic violence in accordance with the law.

　　However, in recent years, some problems have arisen in the practice of personal safety protection orders, such as the high threshold for issuance of personal safety protection orders, the inaccuracy of judges on "facing the real danger of domestic violence", and the inability of relevant departments in the specific implementation of the personal safety protection order system. It affects the effective play of the role of the system.

　　With regard to the above-mentioned issues, the Supreme People's Court issued the "Regulations of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Personal Safety Protection Order Cases" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") in mid-July this year, which was officially implemented on August 1. more judicial protection for victims of violence.

　　The "Regulations" make it clear that applying for a personal safety protection order in a people's court does not require first filing a divorce lawsuit or other lawsuit, nor does it need to file a divorce or other lawsuit within a certain period of time after applying for a personal safety protection order.

　　The "Regulations" further clarified the forms of domestic violence, expanded the scope of application of personal safety protection orders, and made it clear that starvation and frequent insults, defamation, threats, stalking, and harassment are domestic violence.

　　"Any reason is not an excuse to commit domestic violence." The relevant person in charge of the Supreme People's Court said that the regulation improves the evidence rules system for personal safety protection order cases, and provides a stronger and stronger way to protect the legitimate rights and interests of victims of domestic violence. institutional support.

　　Follow 1

　　Relevant departments can apply for protection orders on behalf of elderly, disabled, seriously ill, etc.

　　The "Regulations" make it clear that cases of personal safety protection orders are not attached to civil proceedings such as divorce.

Article 1 of the Judicial Interpretation stipulates that applying for a personal safety protection order to the people's court is not conditional on filing a civil lawsuit such as divorce.

　　The relevant person in charge of the Supreme People's Court said that from the perspective of procedural law, the application, review, and execution of personal safety protection orders are highly independent.

The provisions of the Judicial Interpretation are in line with the basic characteristics and institutional purpose of a personal safety protection order to quickly and promptly stop domestic violence.

　　Regarding the forms of domestic violence, the "Regulations" further clarify and expand the scope of application of personal safety protection orders.

　　The term "domestic violence" as mentioned in the "Anti-Domestic Violence Law" refers to the physical and mental violations carried out by family members by means of beating, binding, maiming, restricting personal freedom, and frequent abuse and intimidation.

The above-mentioned relevant person in charge stated that there are other behaviors that can be classified as domestic violence in practice, which need to be clarified.

The "Regulations" expand the types of domestic violence acts by enumeration, clarifying that physical or mental abuse committed by family members in the form of starvation or frequent insults, defamation, threats, stalking, harassment, etc., should be considered domestic violence.

　　The "Regulations" appropriately expand the circumstances and subject scope of applying for a personal safety protection order on behalf of the applicant, and clarify that "old age, disability, serious illness" and other situations can be applied by the relevant departments on the premise of respecting the wishes of the parties.

The "Regulations" also combined with trial practice, and added civil affairs departments and legally established organizations for the elderly to the subjects who applied on behalf of them.

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　　Standard of proof changed from "high likelihood" to "high likelihood"

　　The relevant person in charge of the Supreme Court and Civil Tribunal said that the survey found that in practice, a considerable number of applicants were not supported because they could not provide evidence.

To this end, the Judicial Interpretation lists ten forms of evidence, the more common ones being statements by both parties, letters of repentance or guarantees issued by the respondent, telephone recordings and text messages between the two parties, medical records of medical institutions, and receipts from women's federations. To the record of reflection or help, etc.

When victims of domestic violence suffer from domestic violence or face the real danger of domestic violence, they can consciously retain and collect the above evidence, and submit it to the people's court when applying for a personal safety protection order.

　　At the same time, testimonies provided by minor children that are appropriate to their age and intelligence are included in the category of domestic violence evidence.

　　In cases of personal safety protection orders, the standard of proof of domestic violence facts is not clear enough, which is the difficulty in handling such cases.

The purpose of the personal safety protection order system is to stop domestic violence and provide a "separation wall" for the victim, so it should be distinguished from the standard of proof of substantive facts in civil cases.

Regarding the standard of proof, the "Regulations" make it clear that the proof standard of a personal safety protection order case is "high probability", and it does not need to reach "high probability", thus reducing the difficulty of proof for applicants.

At the same time, the "Regulations" further reiterated the provisions of the people's courts to investigate and collect evidence according to their powers.

　　The person in charge said that these regulations have improved the evidence rule system in cases of personal safety protection orders, and provided a stronger institutional support for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of victims of domestic violence, thereby ensuring that the people live a safer and more dignified life.

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　　Violation of personal safety protection orders to increase punishment

　　In some cases of personal safety protection orders, some perpetrators claim that there is a reason for the domestic violence, and the other party is at fault, such as cheating.

　　"We want to emphasize the concept that any reason is not an excuse for domestic violence." The relevant person in charge of the Supreme People's Court said that he used the other side's "mistakes first" as an excuse for his behavior, and even took the opportunity. Controlling each other through violence is one of the more common situations.

The idea that domestic violence is "excusable" is completely wrong.

　　In order to correct this misunderstanding and strengthen the protection of victims of domestic violence, the judicial interpretation clearly stipulates that if the respondent recognizes the existence of domestic violence, but argues that the applicant is at fault, the people's court shall issue a personal safety protection order according to law .

Domestic violence is illegal and may even constitute a crime, and it must be resolutely resisted and combated.

　　For the case of one party's derailment and other faults, the person in charge said that he must bear the corresponding legal responsibility.

　　For violations of personal safety protection orders, the "Regulations" have increased the punishment, clarifying that if the respondent violates the personal safety protection order and complies with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law, it will be punished by refusing to execute the judgment or ruling.

The relevant person in charge of the Supreme People's Court said that the judicial interpretation includes the violation of personal safety protection order itself into the scope of application of refusal to execute judgments and convictions, and more targeted efforts to increase criminal strikes to enhance the authority of personal safety protection orders. .

　　Anti-Domestic Violence Events

　　●August 6, 2008

　　my country's first "habeas corpus" was issued by the People's Court of Chong'an District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province.

According to this civil ruling, the personal safety of the protected person will be protected by law, and her husband will not continue to commit violence against her for the next three months.

Subsequently, this practice was tried in more regions such as Chongqing and Zhejiang, and entered the law.

　　●March 1, 2016

　　The implementation of the "Anti-Domestic Violence Law" shows the country's clear attitude of prohibiting any form of domestic violence.

The core of which is the creation of a personal safety protection order system.

　　●July 19, 2017

　　The Supreme People's Court took the lead in convening the first plenary meeting of the Joint Conference on the Reform of Family Trial Methods and Working Mechanisms, established a joint conference system involving 15 departments, continuously improved the diversified dispute resolution mechanism for family trials, and made great efforts to promote the formation of a macro-level anti-domestic violence policy. pattern.

　　●July 18, 2018

　　The Supreme People's Court formulated and issued the "Opinions on Further Deepening the Reform of Family Trial Methods and Working Mechanisms (for Trial Implementation)" to explore the establishment of systems such as psychological evaluation and intervention in family cases, family investigations, marriage cooling-off periods, and post-case follow-up visits, to promote a comprehensive approach to domestic violence. Governance.

　　●September 16, 2019

　　The Supreme People's Court and the All-China Women's Federation jointly issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening Cooperation and Establishing and Improving the Working Mechanism for the Protection of Women's and Children's Rights and Interests", further detailing the protection measures for the rights and interests of women and children.

　　●March 5, 2022

　　Seven departments including the Supreme Court jointly issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Implementation of the Personal Safety Protection Order System", based on the specific responsibilities of each department, starting from the source, and opening up the "blocking points" of inter-departmental communication and cooperation.

　　●August 1, 2022

　　The "Supreme People's Court Regulations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Personal Safety Protection Order Cases" was officially implemented to provide more judicial protection for victims of domestic violence.

　　■ Dialogue

　　Feng Yuan, co-founder of Beijing Weiping Women's Rights Organization:

　　The personal safety protection order system can effectively curb the potential of domestic violence still needs to be fully utilized

　　Feng Yuan, co-founder of Beijing Weiping Women's Rights Organization, said in an interview with a reporter from the Beijing News that personal safety protection orders are a very effective system in anti-domestic violence work, but from the current total number of personal safety protection orders issued See, the potential of this system has not yet been fully realized.

　　She suggested that there should be more and more effective legal publicity, so that the public can understand and use this system, and public prosecutors and law staff also need to improve their awareness and ability to deal with domestic violence.

　　Feng Yuan was a witness to the Fourth UN World Conference on Women hosted by China in 1995.

Since then, the "Anti-Domestic Violence Network" organization that Feng Yuan participated in has promoted the formulation of a comprehensive anti-domestic violence law since 2000, and is a powerful promoter of anti-domestic violence legislation.

Through the efforts of all parties, the Anti-Domestic Violence Law was officially passed in 2015 and came into force on March 1, 2016.

　　In 2014, Feng Yuan, as a co-founder, initiated the establishment of Beijing Weiping Women's Rights Organization, advocating the improvement and implementation of relevant laws and policies, and assisting relevant institutions and professionals in capacity building of gender equality and anti-violence.

　　The application for protection order reflects the basic situation of domestic violence, and the majority of female victims

　　The Beijing News: According to your observations, how is the implementation of the personal safety protection order system in the six years since the implementation of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law?

　　Feng Yuan: A good trend is that the number of issued personal safety protection orders is still increasing year by year.

According to the work report of the Supreme Law of the Two Sessions this year, more than 3,300 national personal safety protection orders will be issued in 2021, reaching the highest level in history.

Combined with the development of communication technology in recent years, some regions have opened a "cloud application" channel to apply for a protection order through WeChat and the Internet to facilitate applicants.

　　The relevant mechanisms for the implementation of the personal safety protection order system have also been gradually improved.

Including the new regulations issued by the Supreme People's Court recently, and the "Opinions on Strengthening the Implementation of the Personal Safety Protection Order System" issued in March this year, as well as the documents issued by some provinces before, all play a role in promoting the personal safety protection order system. Laid a good foundation.

　　Beijing News: According to your statistics, what is the distribution of people applying for personal safety protection orders?

　　Feng Yuan: According to our statistics and the rescue cases we have contacted, the portraits of the applicants for personal safety protection orders are highly abstract. Although the characteristics of women are more obvious, they are not all women.

Husbands and wives, parents and children, in-laws and daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, brothers and sisters, and even intergenerational domestic violence exist.

　　The application of personal safety protection order itself also reflects the basic situation of domestic violence, mainly female victims, not limited to differences in age, urban and rural economic conditions, social and cultural background, physical health, etc. Have.

　　The Beijing News: The Weiping team's report on the implementation of the personal safety protection order is based on the ruling that has been online.

As far as you know, how is the online situation of the rulings in various places?

　　Feng Yuan: Judging from the actual data, the number of online personal safety protection order rulings and the actual number of issuances are not completely positive.

We believe that all localities should be encouraged to do a good job in the disclosure of judicial data, so that the number of protection orders issued nationwide and the number of Internet users can truly be positively correlated.

These public data and cases are very meaningful for us to promote the anti-domestic violence work. When the information is online, it is also necessary to protect the personal privacy of the parties concerned.

　　The automatic fulfillment rate of the respondent after applying for a protection order is generally higher

　　Beijing News: What is the general process of applying for a personal safety protection order?

From a practical point of view, can someone with general legal knowledge complete the application on their own?

　　Feng Yuan: There is no problem with individual application.

In simple terms, the application process is that the parties take some evidence collected by themselves, submit to the court that they have suffered or may encounter domestic violence, and apply for personal safety protection measures.

According to the "Anti-Domestic Violence Law", the simplest application request is to apply to the court to prohibit the respondent from committing domestic violence. If there are other more specific needs, it can be further raised, such as prohibiting the respondent from harassing, stalking, and contacting the applicant. and their close relatives, or order the respondent to move out of the applicant's residence, and other security measures.

　　Judging from the actual situation, the vast majority of cases where the parties themselves or their guardians go directly to apply for a personal safety protection order, and there are not many cases where lawyers apply for a personal safety protection order.

In addition, the "Anti-Domestic Violence Law" stipulates that if the person concerned is unable to apply for a personal safety protection order due to various reasons, his close relatives, relevant departments and institutions may apply on their behalf.

But at present, the number of applications on behalf of them is very small, which is a relatively insufficient point in the implementation of personal safety protection orders.

　　The Beijing News: Why is it important for relevant departments and institutions to apply on their behalf?

　　Feng Yuan: They have a certain degree of authority. Before applying on their behalf, they usually received help or complaints, and made preliminary interventions. At least they had a better understanding of the specific situation or a preliminary investigation.

For the court, the evidence provided by relevant departments and agencies is relatively more credible, and they can also play an active role in the subsequent enforcement process.

　　In addition, applying on behalf of the client can make the helpless client feel more secure, reduce the dangers that may be encountered during the application and trial process, such as stalking, threats, and even direct physical violence, and can also prevent the client from being harmed again during the application process.

　　Beijing News: According to your observations, how is the implementation of the personal safety protection order after the application is completed?

　　Feng Yuan: Generally, after applying for a protection order, the respondent's automatic fulfillment rate is relatively high, which is similar to other forms of anti-domestic violence such as a warning letter.

Previously, the reason why the perpetrators had no fear was that they felt that this matter was left alone, but as long as the public authority intervened, the perpetrators would generally stop, or at least restrain.

In individual cases, the respondent does not fully fulfill the protection order, but his behavior will also have great self-restraint, such as not doing anything to the victim.

　　In addition, according to the law, if the respondent violates the personal safety protection order and constitutes a crime, he will be investigated for criminal responsibility. If it does not constitute a crime, the court may impose a fine or detention according to the seriousness of the circumstances.

　　Personal safety protection order propaganda should be strengthened to give full play to its role

　　Beijing News: How do you evaluate the latest judicial interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on personal safety protection orders?

　　Feng Yuan: Personally, I think there are still some clauses that need to be improved.

For example, Article 2 of the regulations adds two new subjects who apply for protection orders on their behalf, but does not include social organizations.

Now there are many social organizations, especially social work service agencies, who often come into contact with victims of domestic violence on the front line. It is actually very convenient for them to apply on their behalf.

If you do not have the qualification to apply on your behalf, you need to apply through its competent department, which is actually another procedure.

Another example is Article 4, which defines the category of "people living together other than family members" in the Anti-Domestic Violence Law, but the current language tends to exclude cohabitation in practice.

　　Beijing News: The Supreme People's Court pointed out that the main reason for the rejection of the personal safety protection order application is insufficient evidence.

Besides, what other bottlenecks do you think restrict the effective functioning of the personal safety protection order system?

　　Feng Yuan: Regarding domestic violence, the latest national data is still the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics and the All-my country Women's Federation in 2011. Among married women in China, nearly a quarter of them have experienced different forms of domestic violence from their spouses.

At present, more than 10,000 protection orders have been issued nationwide. Compared with the number of Chinese families and the probability of domestic violence, the number of applications and issuance of protection orders is still too small, and the potential of this system has not been fully realized.

　　One important reason, I think, is that there is not enough publicity about the law.

We should have more publicity to make it easier for the public to understand this system, especially for people who have no conditions or are not good at using the Internet or even can't read.

　　Beijing News reporter Sha Xueliang Hu Xianhe