The following cases and comments are of reference value.
How much legal responsibility do you have to bear for angering people?
Author: Our reporter Wang Qi (September 5, 2008)
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A man in Beijing was sentenced to pay 22,000 yuan for "cursing the dead".
Core Tip: There was an altercation between two people in Beijing, and a man was angry because of being insulted and "died of a heart attack". The court ruled that the swearing person compensated the deceased for 22,000 yuan.
Mr. Wang was taken to court because he was thought to have "scolded" Mr. Yang, a villager. Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court revealed that it finally rejected Mr. Wang's appeal and upheld the judgment of the court of first instance to compensate the family of the deceased Mr. Yang for medical expenses, death compensation and spiritual comfort totaling more than 22,000 yuan.
It was found by the court that Mr. Yang and Mr. Wang were adjacent to the vegetable greenhouse, and the two sides had conflicts due to trivial matters of life. Mr. Wang often insults Yang. Last June 65438+February 1 At 7 o'clock in the morning, when Mr. Yang was working in his own greenhouse, Mr. Wang came to insult him again. When Yang was preparing to go to the village Committee for evaluation, he fell and was sent to the hospital for rescue and died. Confirmed by the local health center, the cause of Mr. Yang's death was "sudden death of heart disease".
In February last year, 65438, Mr. Yang's family sued the court of first instance, demanding that Mr. Wang pay more than 78,000 yuan for medical expenses, funeral expenses, death compensation and spiritual comfort. Mr. Wang argued that he didn't scold Yang, and the two sides didn't quarrel. Yang's death has nothing to do with him, and he doesn't agree to compensation.
However, the court obtained the interrogation record of the public security organ, in which Mr. Wang's wife admitted that Wang had insulted him at the time of the incident.
After the judgment of the first instance, Mr. Wang refused to accept the appeal. After the trial of the Second Intermediate People's Court, the judgment of the court of first instance was upheld.
(According to the "Jinghua Times" reported on September 2)
Guests in this issue: Zhang Ligang, lawyer of Liaoning Zhengshi Law Firm, and Sun Jinbao, lawyer of Liaoning Zheng Jin Law Firm.
Topic A: Not everyone is responsible.
I searched online and found that in many cases of "provoking people", the abuser was sentenced to compensation, and some were even sentenced. Does it mean that as long as similar incidents happen, the abuser must bear the responsibility?
Zhang: I don't think so. First of all, it depends on the content and nature of the speech. Some people say angry words, not necessarily to "piss people off." Take an air-conditioned bus, for example. It's very cold outside. One person has to open the window for carsickness, and the other person will not let it go. If the person who wants to open the window has a heart attack and gets angry, in this case, is the person who doesn't open the window irresponsible? I think he can be irresponsible because his demands are just. Second, it depends on the person you are talking to. If you are a public figure, others reveal your privacy, which makes you feel very angry, even angry. Should people who say angry words take responsibility? For example, when Clinton was president of the United States, it was also very irritating that people exposed his privacy. Should those journalists and prosecutors be held accountable? I don't think so.
Topic B: It may constitute homicide.
However, most of them were compensated. As the saying goes, "If you don't pay the cost of your life, it will make people angry (or' scold the dead'). Does it mean that you can" pay the bill "and leave?
Zhang: "Scolding the dead" is not murder. Of course, it does not bear the responsibility for murder, but it does not mean that it does not bear legal responsibility. "Curse the dead" can be divided into two situations. If you "annoy people" in the form of insults and slanders, you need to bear criminal responsibility; In addition, in the compensation for mental damage, insult and slander belong to the tort liability of infringing the right of reputation. If it is "irritating", once it can be proved that the insult or slander is serious, it will bear criminal responsibility and civil liability.
Sun: It may constitute homicide. Specifically, according to the subjective mental state of the actor, the responsibility for "provoking" behavior is different. For example, in a quarrel, the actor said something that made the victim angry, but the result made the other party angry at once, and the actor should bear the corresponding civil liability for compensation; Subjective intention, if the perpetrator is malicious, knowing that the victim has a certain disease and can't be excited or too narrow-minded, deliberately find fault to stimulate him and make him sick, so as to achieve the purpose of punishment. Here, the actor's purpose is to punish and stimulate the other party by insulting or slandering, which may constitute the crime of insult or libel; Intentional homicide, the perpetrator wanted to murder others in a stimulating way, designed many schemes, and finally made him angry. Then we can be sure that the perpetrator intentionally killed people and carried out specific (irritating) behaviors. Although no violence or murder weapon was used, it was enough to inevitably cause the victim's death. Therefore, it should be considered that the act constitutes a homicide, and I am afraid it will cost my life.
Of course, from a legal point of view, it is very strict to investigate the criminal responsibility of the abuser. The key to determining responsibility depends on evidence, and civil law is generally applicable.
Question C: How much to pay is quite complicated.
In the case of "irritating", "civil law is generally applicable", what compensation can the family of the deceased claim? How much is appropriate?
Sun: The principle of fault is generally applied in civil law, mainly depending on whether the offender is at fault. If the family of the deceased can prove that there is a causal relationship between sadism and death, the abuser needs to bear civil liabilities such as compensation for medical expenses, funeral expenses and spiritual comfort.
If it can't be proved that there is a certain correlation between the two, in view of the fact that "cursing the dead" belongs to a special situation in life, the court may require the abuser to bear certain civil compensation liability according to the principle of fairness, but the abuser in this case does not need to compensate for mental losses.
As for the size of the liability for compensation, it mainly depends on the fault degree of swearing death and the proportion of abusive behavior in the cause of death. The court may determine the amount of compensation according to the specific circumstances.
Zhang: If it does lead to death, as the heir of the deceased, he has the right to claim two kinds of compensation, one is material compensation and the other is mental compensation, which is generally manifested as mental damage compensation. However, whether the victim's heirs have the right to claim compensation is a complex issue and controversial in theory. Besides, human life is priceless. According to the general principles of our civil law, he died, the loss is unclear, and there are many problems. If it is not "irritating", it is disgusting. This compensation is easy to solve. It's just killing people's popularity. The problem is more complicated.
Question D: Does being "angry" count as "accidental injury"?
I remember an "irritating" special case two years ago: Li Yin was admitted to the hospital with myocardial infarction in June 2005. Before that, he bought an accidental injury insurance from a life insurance company with a coverage of 65,438+10,000. In July 2006, Li was in stable condition and was ready to leave the hospital, but he died suddenly because of a dispute with his roommate about turning off the lights. Li's son filed a claim with the insurance company, which thought that Li's death was not an insurance liability and refused to pay the insurance money. The two lawyers think, can it be considered as "accidental injury"?
Sun: Judging from the situation introduced in this case alone, it should not constitute an accident as mentioned in the insurance clause. There are several necessary conditions for accidental injury insurance: foreign, sudden, violent and accidental. Someone passed by a building, and it fell down and killed him. This is an accidental injury. What do you mean by intense? If the building falls slowly, it will not fall for an hour, but he just won't hide. It was an injury, but it wasn't an accident. In this case, the decisive factor leading to the death of the insured is the physical factor. If another person exerts the same level of anger, he may not die. Therefore, the death of the insured was caused by heart disease, not accidental injury, and it seems a bit reluctant to let the insurance company bear the responsibility for accidental injury.
Zhang: I think we can focus on the obligations of insurance companies. It may be that the insurance company did not fulfill its obligation to inform, or did not do it at all. If the other party asks for a standard contract, it must be explained. Unfortunately, Li's son probably didn't ask for it at all. What should I do in this case? Personally, I think it should be tilted towards the insured. Because the insurance company has the obligation to inform but has not fulfilled it, it is reasonable for the insurance company to compensate from the perspective of social equity. As far as China's current regulations and the practice of most countries are concerned, when both parties perform the obligation of disclosure, the law stipulates the exemption clause. If it is not disclosed, the exemption from liability is invalid.
This newspaper reminds people how to defend their rights when they are insulted.
In real life, although "cursing to death" is a special case, "swearing" is very common. How can the parties protect their legal rights under such circumstances?
China's laws have relevant provisions on this. According to Article 10 1 of the General Principles of the Civil Law, citizens and legal persons enjoy the right of reputation, and their personal dignity is protected by law. It is forbidden to damage the reputation of citizens and legal persons by insulting or slandering. Therefore, if it is just general abuse, the scolded person can give the other party a verbal warning first; If the other party ignores it, it can bring a civil lawsuit to the court, suing the other party for violating his reputation and personal dignity, demanding to stop the infringement, apologize and compensate for mental losses; If the other party insults himself many times and affects his normal work and life, he can report to the public security organ. After investigation, the police can impose public security punishment on the perpetrators according to the Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on Public Security Administration Punishment, that is, detention for less than five days or a fine of less than 500 yuan; If the circumstances are serious, they shall be detained for not less than five days but not more than ten days, and may also be fined not more than 500 yuan.