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【Title】Chen Shuibao (First Plaintiff) Liu Wenzhong
(Second Plaintiff) AND The Intermediate People’s
Court of Nanping City (First Defendant) The People’s
Procuratorate of Nanping City (Second Defendant)
【Judgement No.】Administrative Compensation No.2 of
1999
【Date of Conclusion of Hearing】1999-11-29
【Catalog】Administrative Cases
【Level】Original Jurisdiction
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Chen Shuibao (First Plaintiff) Liu
Wenzhong (Second Plaintiff) AND The
Intermediate People’s Court of Nanping
City (First Defendant) The People’s
Procuratorate of Nanping City (Second
Defendant)
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HEADNOTE
(1) Written Judgment No of First Instance:
Original Administrative Compensation No.2 (1999) of
the Compensation Committee of the Higher People's
Court of Fujian Province
(2) Cause of Action: Request for Compensation for
Wrongful Arrest and Sentence
(3) Parties:
First Plaintiff (“the First Plaintiff”): Chen
Shuibao, born 9 January 1952, Han national, resident
of Nanchang City of Jiangxi Province. He was the
Vice-Manager of the Indigenous Products Company of
Anfu County, Jiangxi Province
Second Plaintiff (“the Second Plaintiff”): Liu
Wenzhong, born 8 August 1949, Han national, resident
of Jian County of Jiangxi Province. He was the
Manager of the Indigenous Products Company of Anfu
County, Jiangxi Province
First Compensation Responsible Organ (“the
First Defendant”): The Intermediate People’s Court
of Nanping City
Agent Ad Litem: Xu Zhicong, head of the
People’s Court of Nanping City
Second Compensation Responsible Organ (“the
Second Defendant”): The People’s Procuratorate of
Nanping City
Agent Ad Litem: Chen Yansheng, head of the People’s
Procuratorate of Nanping City
(4) Level of Trial: First Instance
(5) Trial Authority and Composition:
Trial Institution: The Higher People's Court
of Fujian Province
Compensation Committee Panel members: Kang
Ying, Chen Xianggan, Xia Dongying, Chen Chuanguang,
He Ming
(6) Date of Conclusion of Hearing: 29 November
1999
CLAIMS AND DEFENCE
On 20 June 1996, the Plaintiffs were arrested for
Illegal Trading and Trafficking of Firearms. On 14
December of the same year, the Second Defendant
prosecuted the Plaintiffs with an offence of illegal
trading of firearms. On 25 July 1997, the First
Defendant convicted the First Plaintiff with an
offence of illegal trading of firearms and sentenced
the First Plaintiff to a fixed term imprisonment of
8 years. The First Defendant also convicted the
Second Plaintiff with an offence of illegal trading
of firearms and sentenced the Second Plaintiff to a
fixed term imprisonment of 5 years. The Plaintiffs
were discontented with the ruling by the First
Defendant and filed an appeal. After the Second
Instance Trial, the Higher People’s Court of Fujian
Province quashed the conviction against the
Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs submitted petitions to
the First Defendant for compensation. On 15 December
1998, the First Defendant decided to answer the
petitions.
On 16 June 1999, the Compensation Committee of the
Intermediate People’s Court of Nanping City (“the
First Compensation Committee”) sent written replies
to the Plaintiffs and stated that since the People’s
Court and the People’s Procuratorate did not hold
the same view on whether they would agree to
compensate the Plaintiffs, the First Compensation
Committee suggested to the Plaintiffs that they
could submit their petitions to the Compensation
Committee of the Higher People’s Court of the Fujian
Province (“The Second Compensation Committee”). The
Plaintiffs considered that the refusal of their
petitions for compensation by the Defendants had
seriously infringed their rights. In the course of
detention, the First Plaintiff suffered from
cutaneous paralysis (皮肤麻痹症), the Second Plaintiff
was triggered Neurasthenia (神经衰弱症) and had a nervous
shock. The Second Plaintiff’s wife, Peng Yuxiu,
suffered from Chronic Gastritis (慢性胃炎) and Anaemia (贫血).
As a result, the Plaintiffs requested the Defendants
to compensate (1) the First Plaintiff 27,279.90 Rmb; (2)
the Second Plaintiff 28,144.79 Rmb; (3) the expenses
incurred by their family’s visits to Fujian Province
and the filing fee of 2,000.00 Rmb in total and (4)
the legal costs of the defenders.
The Defendants did not submit any defence.
FACTS AND EVIDENCE
After an open trial in the Second Compensation
Committee, it was revealed that:
The Plaintiffs’ claims through petitions were
evidenced by the following,
1. Notices of Arrest No. 200 and No.201
issued by the Public Security Bureau of Jianzhen
City affirming that the Plaintiffs had been arrested
by the Public Security Bureau of Jianzhen City;
2. Bills of Indictment No.129 of 1996 issued
by the Second Defendant affirming that the
Plaintiffs had been prosecuted by the Second
Defendant with an Offence of Illegal trading of
firearms;
3. Written Judgment No. 20 of 1997 delivered
by the First Defendant affirming that the Plaintiffs
had been convicted in the First Instance trial;
4. Written Judgment No. 497 of 1997 delivered
by the Court affirming that the Plaintiffs were
acquitted after the Second Instance trial;
5. Notices of Release No.98 and No.99 of 1998
issued by the Detention Center of Jianzhen City on
11 September 1998 affirming the Plaintiffs had been
released on the same day;
6. The Income Proofs related to the
Plaintiffs’ monthly salaries and subsidies in 1996
provided by the Supply and Marketing Cooperative
Unit of Anfu County, Jiangxi Province affirming that
the daily salary of the First Plaintiff was 26.30
Rmb and the daily salary of the Second Plaintiff was
26.23 Rmb;
7. Notice of Acceptance of Case No.2 of 1998
issued by the First Defendant on 15 December 1998
affirming that the First Defendant accepted the
Plaintiffs’ applications for compensation;
8. The Reply Letter issued by the Office of
First Compensation Committee on 16 June 1999
affirming that the First Defendant could not make
the decision regarding the Plaintiffs’ requests for
compensation;
9. Certificates of Sickness issued on 20 July
and 5 August 1999 by the Medical Department of the
People’s Hospital of Anfu County, Jiangxi Province
affirming that the First Plaintiff suffered from
Lower Limb Peripheral Neuritis (雙下肢末梢神經炎). The
Second Plaintiff suffered from Neurasthenia (神經衰弱症).
The Second Plaintiff’s wife, Peng Yuxiu, suffered
from Chronic Gastritis (慢性胃炎) and Anaemia (貧血);
10. The Receipt of Payment of 200 Rmb for
disbursements and the Receipt of Payment of 1,300
Rmb for the Defender’s fee in the First Instance
trial of the Second Plaintiff issued on 2 January
1997 by the Nanping Zhicheng Law Office;
11. The Tickets for the journey from Anfu County
of Jiangxi Province to Nanping City and Jianzhen
City, accommodation fee and fee for meals affirming
that the family members of the Second Plaintiff had
gone to Fujian Province to attend the Court trial
and to visit the Second Plaintiff in custody.
After the investigation by the Second Compensation
Committee, it was considered that the evidence Items
No.1-5, 7 and 8 mentioned above were the legal
documents tendered by the Public Security Bureau,
the People’s Procuratorate and the People’s Court.
Those legal documents could be used as the evidence
for affirming the criminal litigation process and
affirming how the compensation case was handled by
the First Defendant.
Although the Evidence Item No.6 could prove the
daily salary of the Plaintiffs in 1996, it could not
be used as the basis for calculating the
compensation for the Plaintiffs since under the Law
of the People's Republic of China on State
Compensation (“the Law on State Compensation”), for
the cases of infringement of citizens’ rights,
references should be made to the National Average
Wages on working days in the previous year in
calculating the daily compensation amounts. As the
Second Plaintiff’s wife, Peng Yuxiu, was not the
party of the case, her sickness had no relationship
with this case. Hence, Evidence Item No.9 submitted
by the Plaintiffs would not be considered by the
Second Compensation Committee. As there were no
submission of other medical records by the
Plaintiffs, the Certificates of Sickness of the
Plaintiffs could not be corroborated for proving the
Plaintiffs had suffered from those sicknesses
arising out of the detention nor those sicknesses
were related to this case. However, Evidence Item
No.10 was real and it would be adopted by the Second
Compensation Committee for proving the Second
Plaintiff had paid 1,300 Rmb for the legal costs and
200 Rmb for the disbursements.
After investigating all the evidence by the Second
Compensation Committee, it was revealed that:
The Plaintiffs were suspected of having committed an
offence of illegal trading of firearms. With the
approval of the People’s Procuratorate of Jianzhen
City, the Plaintiffs were arrested on 20 June 1996.
On 14 December 1996, the Second Defendant prosecuted
the Plaintiffs with an offence of illegal trading of
firearms. The Second Plaintiff paid 1300 Rmb for the
legal costs and 200 Rmb for the disbursements in the
First Instance trial. On 25 July 1997, the First
Defendant convicted the First Plaintiff with an
offence of illegal trading of firearms and sentenced
him to a fixed term imprisonment of 8 years; the
Second Plaintiff was convicted with an offence of
illegal trading of firearms and was sentenced to a
fixed term imprisonment of 5 years. The Plaintiffs
were discontented with the the ruling by the First
Defendant and filed an appeal to the Higher People’s
Court of Fujian Province. After an open trial, the
Higher People’s Court of Fujian Province considered
that the Plaintiffs committed an offence of illegal
trading of firearms in the name of the organization.
It was an offence committed by the organization
itself. According to law at that time, the
Plaintiffs should not be held liable for the
organization’s conduct. As a result, on 19 August
1998, the Written Judgment No.20 of 1997 delivered
by the First Defendant was annulled and the
Plaintiffs were acquitted. On 11 September 1998, the
Plaintiffs were released from prison after detained
for 813 days respectively. During this period of
time, the family members of the Second Plaintiff
paid visit to the Second Plaintiff in the prison in
Fujian. Subsequently, the Plaintiffs applied for
compensation from the Second Defendant. On 15
December 1998, the Second Defendant opened the file
to deal with the Plaintiffs’ application and
notified the Plaintiffs of it. On 16 June 1999, the
Office of the First Compensation Committee sent
written replies to the Plaintiffs and stated that
since the People’s Court and the People’s
Procuratorate did not hold the same view on whether
they would agree to compensate the Plaintiffs, the
First Compensation Committee suggested the
Plaintiffs to file an application for compensation
to the Second Compensation Committee.
GROUNDS OF JUDGMENT AT THE FIRST INSTANCE TRIAL
The Second Compensation Committee considered that:
According to Article 15(2) of the Law on State
Compensation, if there was a wrongful arrest of a
person without incriminating facts, the victim shall
have the right to compensation. In this case,
Plaintiffs had been convicted with an offence of
illegal trading of firearms, but they were acquitted
after the Second Instance trial. The Plaintiffs
could be regarded as the victims of the wrongful
arrests and should have the right for compensation.
Under Article 1 of the Supreme People's Court and
Supreme People's Procuratorate, Several Questions
Concerning the Handling of Joint Compensation Cases
by People's Courts and People's Procuratorates
Interpretation (“the Interpretation”), if the Second
Instance Court amended the decision of the First
Instance Court with an order of acquittal under
which the victim was entitled to compensation
according to law, the First Instance Court and the
People’s Procuratorate approving the initial arrest
should be the organs responsible for the
compensation. In this case, the responsible organs
should be the First Defendant and the Second
Defendant. The Defendants were required to pay
compensations pursuant to Article 21(1) of the Law
on State Compensation. According to Article 3 of the
Interpretation, the Defendants should be responsible
for paying compensations to the two Plaintiffs on
equal shares. Also, Article 26 of the Law on State
Compensation stated that for cases relating to the
infringement of citizens’ rights, the daily
compensation should be calculated with reference to
the national average salary on working days in the
previous year. The term “previous year” referred to
the year that the Responsible Organs made their
decision under Article 6 of the Interpretation. As
the Plaintiffs had been detained for 813 days, the
Defendants should compensate each of the Plaintiffs
23,934.72 Rmb with reference to the national average
salary on working days in the year 1998. Regarding
the Second Plaintiff’s request for compensation of
2,000 Rmb for the traveling expenses and the legal
costs incurred by the Defender, the Second
Compensation Committee of the Higher People’s Court
Fujian Province found it was not supported by law
and therefore rejected it.
CONCLUDING JUDGMENT OF FIRST INSTANCE TRIAL
Pursuant to Article 26 of the Law on State
Compensation, Article 3 of the Interpretation and
Article 16(3) of the People's Court Compensation
Committee of State Compensation Cases Trial
Procedures Tentative Provisions (“the Tentative
Provisions”), the Compensation Committee of the
Higher People’s Court Fujian Province delivered the
following judgment:
(1) The First Defendant should pay the
compensation of 11,967.63 Rmb to the First Plaintiff
and the Second Plaintiff respectively.
(2) The Second Defendant should pay the
compensation of 11,967.63 Rmb to the First Plaintiff
and the Second Plaintiff respectively.
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