Compensation Claimant: Huang Jingjia, male, 47 years old, Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province, Cadre of the Educational Commission of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province
Authorized Agent: Xia Jianjun, lawyer of Junsheng Law Firm, Zhejiang Province
Authorized Agent: Xia Jixian, professor of the East China University of Politics and Law
Organ Liable for Compensation: the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province
Legal Representative: Zhao Luming, chief prosecutor
Review Organ: the People’s Procuratorate of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province
Legal Representative: Zhu Liqiao, chief prosecutor

Huang filed an application for criminal compensation with the Compensation Committee of the Intermediate People’s Court of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province for the 204-day wrongful arrest and detainment conducted by the people’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province, requesting the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City to compensate for the infringement upon his personal freedom and pay 50, 000 yuan of the relevant losses due to emotional disturbance; and publicly eradicate the negative effect, recover his reputation and make an apology.

The Compensation Commission of the Intermediate People’s Court of Jiaxing City found through hearing that:

On October 7, 1998, the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City took Huang, based on a tip-off, to the Anti-corruption Bureau thereof for investigation. On October 9, the said Procuratorate detained Huang on the ground that Huang was suspected of corruption during his tenure as director of the General Office of Pinghu Middle School as well as principal of the school-run enterprise. On October 23, the said Procuratorate arrested Huang on the ground of suspected corruption. On April 29, 1999, the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu Municipality decided to release him upon bail and await trial and thus canceled the detainment. On September 29 of the same year, the said Procuratorate made a decision of canceling the case involving Huang’s suspected corruption on the ground that the key witnesses were nowhere to be found and it is thus hard to close the case through trial. From October 7, 1998 to April 29, 1999, Huang was deprived of his personal freedom for a total of 204 days.

On May 22, 2000, Huang filed an application for compensation with the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City for wrong arrest. On June 22 of the same year, the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City made a Criminal Confirmation, deciding to refuse the claim for compensation. On June 26 of the same year, Huang filed an appeal with the People’s Procuratorate of Jiaxing City, the review organ. On August 25 of the same year, the People’s Procuratorate of Jiaxing City made a Review Decision on the Appeal against the Criminal Confirmation, sustaining the decision of the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City on rejecting the claim of compensation.

The evidences to confirm the aforesaid facts are as follows: the transcripts of investigation into Huang as made by the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province on October 7 and 8, 1998, a Detainment Notice of the Anti-corruption Bureau of the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province (No. 9 (1998)), an Arrest Notice of the Anti-corruption Bureau of the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province (No. 9 (1998)), a Guaranty of the Anti-corruption Bureau of the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City (No. 12 (1999)), a Decision of the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City on Canceling a Case (No. 1(1999)) and a Criminal Confirmation of the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City (No. 1 (2000)), a Review Decision on the Appeal against the Criminal Confirmation (No. 1 (2000)) as made by the People’s Procuratorate of Jiaxing City.

The organ liable for compensation argued that: As this case has not been confirmed and thus cannot enter into the procedures for compensation, the Compensation Committee shall not accept it. Huang was involved in suspected corruption on factual ground. It is because the key witnesses left when this case was uncovered and has, so far, been nowhere to be found that the relevant evidences could not be confirmed and the requirements for an appeal could not be met, so was the case canceled. It shall not be deemed as wrong detainment, for which no compensation shall be made.

The Compensation Committee of the Intermediate People’s Court of the People’s Court of Jiaxing City held that:

According to Article 15 of the State Compensation Law of the People’s Republic of China, which prescribes: “The victim shall have the right to compensation if an organ in charge of investigatory, procuratorial, judicial or prison administration work, or its functionaries, infringes upon his right of the person in the exercise of its functions and powers”. It is a clear that the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City forcefully restricted Huang’s personal freedom for 204 days, declaring that Huang was suspected of corruption. Huang’s case involving suspected corruption was canceled for the failure of the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City to confirm the relevant facts and meet the requirements for filing an action, which is in fact a failure to prove Huang’s criminal facts. An arrest with a criminal suspect’s criminal facts left unconfirmed is a wrong arrest lacking ground of relevant criminal facts. So, the victim has the right to criminal compensation against the judicial organ that has made the wrong decision on arrestment. Therefore, Huang’s claim that the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City is the organ liable for compensation that shall compensate for his losses comply with the provisions of law.

The organ liable for compensation made a decision on not confirming Huang’s claim for compensation. The People’s Procuratorate of Jiaxing City, upon review, sustained the decision of the Procuratorate of Pinghu City. The aforesaid two decisions lead to Huang’s claim for state compensation that shall have entered into the procedures for state compensation but failed. As to the decision of the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City on rejecting the claim as well as the decision of the People’s Procuratorate of Jiaxing City on review, it shall be deemed that the organ liable for compensation and the review organ have respectively made a decision on not granting any compensation. Huang believed that the decisions of the aforesaid two organs violated the provisions of the State Compensation Law and thus filed an appeal for compensation with this Compensation Committee, and therefore this Court shall accept it according to law.

Article 20 of the State Compensation Law of the People’s Republic of China prescribes that: “An organ liable for compensation shall pay the compensation if its involvement in any of the circumstance stipulated in the provisions of Articles 15 and 16 of this Law has been lawfully confirmed.” The People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu city arrested Huang in the absence of sufficient evidence to prove that Huang has any criminal facts of corruption, which has injured the citizen’s right to person. The People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City shall, as the organ liable for compensation, bear the obligation of state compensation for criminal infringement and shall perform the actual compensatory obligations as well.

Article 25 of the State Compensation Law of the People’s Republic of China prescribes that: “State compensation shall take the form of payment of damages in the main.” Article 26 prescribes that: “If freedom of the person of a citizen is infringed, compensatory payment for each day shall be assessed in accordance with the State average daily pay of staff and workers in the previous year.” Where an organ liable for compensation gives the state compensation to a victim, it shall be governed by the compensatory scope as prescribed in the State Compensation Law. Huang’s claim satisfies the relevant provisions of law that the organ liable for compensation, the People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City, shall compensate for its infringement upon his personal freedom, eradicate the negative effect, recover his reputation and make an apology. The People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City shall satisfy the aforesaid requirements. Yet Huang’s claim that the organ liable for compensation shall pay the losses due to emotional disturbance exceeds the compensatory scope as prescribed by the State Compensation Law and lacks legal ground, and thus shall not be sustained.

In conclusion, the Intermediate People’s Court of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province adjudicated as follows on November 12, 2000:
The People’s Procuratorate of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province shall compensate 6, 705 yuan to Huang, which shall be performed within 15 days as of the day when this Decision comes into force.

This Decision shall be of legal effect.