China News Service, July 15th. The Supreme People's Court held a press conference on the 15th to issue the "Supreme People's Court Regulations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Personal Safety Protection Order Cases" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), which will be released in 2022. Effective August 1st.
Zheng Xuelin, president of the First Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court, introduced that the "Regulations" expanded the types of domestic violence acts by enumeration, making it clear that starvation and frequent insults, defamation, threats, stalking, and harassment are all domestic violence.
This further clarifies the scope of application of personal safety protection orders and protects family members from various forms of domestic violence.
Zheng Xuelin said at the meeting that there are 13 provisions in the "Regulations". Taking the preventive function of personal safety protection orders as the starting point, they will further remove various obstacles in the acceptance and making procedures of such cases, and highlight the protection of the rights and interests of victims of domestic violence. Timeliness, clear rules, mainly including the following aspects:
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.
This provision clarifies that an application for a personal safety protection order in a people's court does not need to first file 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.
From the perspective of procedural law, the application, review, and execution of personal safety protection orders are highly independent and can exist independently of other lawsuits.
This is in line with the basic characteristics and institutional purpose of the personal safety protection order to quickly and promptly stop domestic violence.
Further clarify the forms of domestic violence and expand the scope of application of personal safety protection orders.
Article 2 of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law stipulates: "Domestic violence as used in this law refers to physical and mental violations committed by family members by means of beating, binding, maiming, restricting personal freedom, and frequent abuse and intimidation. "The article lists common forms of domestic violence.
However, in practice, in addition to the forms listed above, there are other behaviors that can be classified as domestic violence, which need to be clarified.
The "Regulations" expand the categories of domestic violence by enumerating, making it clear that starvation and frequent insults, defamation, threats, stalking, and harassment are all domestic violence.
This further clarifies the scope of application of personal safety protection orders and protects family members from various forms of domestic violence.
Appropriately expand the circumstances of filing on behalf of the applicant and the scope of the subject matter of filing on behalf of the applicant.
Article 23 of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law stipulates that if the party concerned is a person with no capacity for civil conduct, a person with limited capacity for civil conduct, or is unable to apply for a personal safety protection order due to coercion, intimidation, or other reasons, his close relatives, public security organs, women's Associations, residents' committees, villagers' committees, and relief management agencies may apply on their behalf.
In practice, there are still cases where the victim is afraid or unable to apply in person due to old age, disability, serious illness, etc.
In order to ensure that such groups with special difficulties can obtain the relief of the personal safety protection order system in a timely manner in accordance with the law, the "Regulations", on the basis of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law, appropriately expand the situation of applying on behalf of ”, etc., on the premise of respecting the wishes of the parties, the relevant departments may apply on their behalf.
At the same time, combined with trial practice and according to the responsibilities of relevant departments, the civil affairs departments, disabled persons' federations, and legally established organizations for the elderly have been added to the subjects applying on their behalf, so as to fully mobilize the forces of the whole society and further strengthen the knitting The protection network of such persons shall work together to ensure their personal health and safety.
Clarify the form and standard of evidence.
Article 20 of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law stipulates that when a people's court hears a case involving domestic violence, it may determine the facts of domestic violence based on evidence such as police dispatch records, warning letters, and injury appraisal opinions from public security organs.
However, in practice, most parties are unable to provide the above-mentioned evidence, resulting in their application being rejected due to "insufficient evidence", which limits the role of the personal safety protection order.
What evidence the people's court can use to make a personal safety protection order is an urgent need to be clarified in trial practice.
According to the characteristics of domestic violence, the "Regulations" summarizes practical experience, lists ten types of evidence, clearly guides trial practice, and provides clear behavioral guidelines for victims of domestic violence to retain and collect evidence.
Zheng Xuelin pointed out that in cases of personal safety protection orders, the standard of proof of domestic violence 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.
Combined with the characteristics of non-litigation procedures for personal safety protection orders, the "Regulations" clarify that the proof standard for issuing personal safety protection orders is "high probability" rather than "high probability", thus reducing the burden of proof on the parties and helping In order to give full play to the role of the personal safety protection order.
Increase punishment for violations of personal safety protection orders.
After the people's court issued a personal safety protection order, the respondent should strictly abide by it and no longer commit domestic violence.
If the respondent still commits domestic violence during the protection period, it is not only another violation of the personality rights of family members, but also a disregard of judicial authority, which should be resolutely punished in accordance with the law.
Article 34 of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law stipulates that if the respondent violates the personal safety protection order and constitutes a crime, he shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law; if it does not constitute a crime, the people's court shall give a reprimand and may impose a fine of less than one thousand yuan according to the seriousness of the circumstances. Fines and detention for not more than 15 days.
The "Regulations" further clarify that if the respondent violates the personal safety protection order and meets the provisions of Article 313 of the "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China", it will be convicted and punished by refusing to execute the judgment or ruling.
In this way, the violation of personal safety protection order itself is included in the scope of application of refusal to execute judgments and convictions, and criminal strikes are more targeted to strengthen the authority of personal safety protection orders and respond to social concerns.
Zheng Xuelin said that the "Regulations" also stipulated the specific scope of persons to be applied with reference to the Anti-Domestic Violence Law, and the relationship between personal safety protection orders and divorce proceedings.