Great Leaving the Night's Watch

Chapter 203 Case Law Discretion of the Presiding Officer
Shi Bin talked with Sun Zhao for nearly half an hour, and sorted out the results of this matter.

The legal system is divided into code law system and case law system.

Shi Bin takes the latter.

To put it simply, the code system is dominated by codes, and the case law system is dominated by precedents.Each has its own advantages and disadvantages (interested readers can search for relevant papers by themselves, which will not be expanded here).

The code law system is relatively rigid, and judges in the case law system have particularly great discretion.He focuses on free testimony, with the aim of achieving fairness.

Before Sun Zhao left, he asked, "Your Majesty, will you still attend then?"

Shi Bin shook his head and said, "I won't attend. There is no need to attend every case. This time, there is no need for the thirteen divisions to interrogate. You can preside over the trial."

"The minister takes the decree." Sun Zhao bowed and left.

This extreme case is usually extremely rare.

But it actually happened.

The case itself challenged both social morality and the bottom line of the law.

Similar to the trolley problem proposed by famous legal scholars.

Is it possible to sacrifice one person in order to fulfill a legal interest that includes many people?
After fighting for hundreds of years, there is still no result that satisfies everyone.

It is impossible to have such a result.

Cases were reported to Dali Temple layer by layer, and officials along the way did not dare to slack off. Shi Bin's punishment for lazy administration was extremely severe.

These officials prepared their chariots and horses, issued transit documents, and let them go all the way.

Passengers along the way did not dare to make things difficult and continued to let them pass.

Even food and lodging are all covered by the imperial court.

At this juncture, no one dares to covet the money.Countless pairs of eyes are staring at it.

There was an extreme shortage of entertainment programs in ancient times, otherwise how could the earth-shattering repertoire of Wu Song Fighting the Tiger have been sung for thousands of years.

But that kind of thing can only catch up once in thousands of years.

So now the public regards these extremely bizarre and extremely classic cases as big domestic news.

It seems that Shi Bin's law popularization effect is quite good.

And his new concept of the legal system is quite different from the previous one-size-fits-all interrogation method of "under the hammer, what can you ask for?" Every time Shi Bin and his night watchman can handle the case to the satisfaction of most people the result of.

Rather than being in power like the Lu family, the poor will always have nowhere to complain.

So the parties involved in this case, including the trafficker, Song's son, Song's couple, and the sufferer Li's couple, all came to the capital.

Sun Zhao, the presiding judge of Dali Temple, heard the case openly, allowing people from all walks of life to attend.

The doors of the courtroom were wide open, and the public could crowd outside to listen.

In the past, the trials in Lu's era were conducted in secret.

Now that Shi Bin has a public trial, it is cheaper for some street dealers. They make money by selling good positions.

Shi Bin personally instructed the night watchmen to cut off the fingers of these scalpers once and cut off their fingers three times, behead them and confiscate all their property.

Since then, the scalpers who maliciously raised prices to cheat ordinary people have disappeared.

In order to get a good position, some people even queued up in the middle of the night.

This has become a scene of great distance.

Rather than caring about the court trial, it would be better to say that he wants to watch the excitement, see how the case is judged, and go back so that he can brag about his knowledge to his relatives in remote villages.

Sun Zhao formed a collegial panel, besides himself, there were four night watch servants.

The clerks, as well as the staff of the Supervision Office, were also present.

The Ministry of Punishment also sent a servant to attend the trial court.

Mr. Sun's trial behavior was supervised by the officials of the Supervision Office.

Shi Bin's set-up is completely the embryonic form of a parliament with separation of powers in later generations.

Legislation and judiciary are separated, and judiciary and supervision are independent.

As soon as Mr. Sun finished speaking about the opening of the court, Wu Song, an official of the Supervision Office, announced to everyone the role of the Supervision Office:
"According to the Law of Great Liberation, this Supervisory Office will supervise all the trial activities of the trial court. If there is any injustice, this official will protest in court, and the prime minister will form another panel to retry!"

Wu Song's position is actually equivalent to that of a procuratorate official in later generations.

People in Dali can feel more and more the justice and majesty of the court's law enforcement.

In a court that values ​​procedural justice so much, justice will be achieved in many cases.

In previous feudal dynasties, judges only pursued the detection rate.Then this matter is simple, all you need is to extract a confession by torture and kill your loved one unjustly.

Under severe punishment, he will give you whatever confession you want.

So those people can't live happier than the people under the rule of the emperor's historian.

As the plaintiff, the bitter master has been bitter all his life, and now he is at the foot of the emperor, the forbidden area of ​​the imperial city, and he is already at a loss for what to do.

Originally, they were very afraid that the other party was rich and powerful. If they bribed the chief judge and played themselves to death, wouldn't it be like playing to death with ants?
But when the Lis and his wife peeked at the Songs, they found that they were already sweating profusely.

They live in remote mountain villages, out of the reach of kingly government orders, how can they understand the law of great separation?

They didn't know that it wasn't them who needed to worry most at this moment, but the Song couple!

Because they are mortal sins!
The old man of the Li family was too terrified, in this majestic and solemn place, he was so frightened that he fell silent, when he needed to speak, he didn't know what to say.

Many people who come to the court for the first time are actually like this. It is only mild that their legs are weak from fright.

At this time, it was the old lady of the Li family who went all out.

She knelt down and kowtowed, pouring out her grievances to Mr. Sun:

"Master Qingtian, the women are wronged! The women and their husbands have been poor all their lives, and they only have one son under their knees. He is our lifeblood. Without him, we don't even enjoy living!"

"When the child was just lost, the child's father wanted to hang himself several times, and the housewife couldn't afford it..."

"In these years, every day of our life is worse than death..."

"It's all because the traffickers have hurt us so badly! I beg Master Qingtian to punish him severely!"

Mrs. Li was uneducated, and she said something here and there, telling her grievances and hardships.

Anyway, it's finally clear.

In order to prevent the child-abducting scum from jumping over the wall in a hurry, Da Lichao did not sentence the trafficker to death, and let him go to the prison to pick up dung for the rest of his life.

This deterrent effect is huge, if you don't kill or cut, you will pick up dung for a lifetime, and countless people would rather die poor than become human traffickers.

Those who were not caught also honestly changed their careers.

Apart from these old cases, there are very few new cases of child theft.

Because there was basically no risk in the past, and the sentence was too light. After stealing the child and selling it for a lot of money, even if he was caught and sentenced to a few years, he would get out after spending some money. He could continue to do evil without any cost.

It was Lu's so-called benevolent government that saved them.

Not only were they ungrateful, they also called Mrs. Lu a mentally retarded.

The fact that the Lu family did not perish is truly unacceptable.

The human trafficker thought of his next painful experience, and he cried so much that he didn't dare to cry aloud.

He resented himself for being so unlucky.

Originally, after the promulgation of the Great Liberation Law, the punishment for traffickers was too heavy, and even all the property of the whole family was confiscated. The mere fine of money was actually a billion times more severe than killing them.

Stealing children now is too uneconomical, the risk is too great, and the price is too great.

His family is now full of children and grandchildren, and has accumulated thousands of gold over the years...

All night watchmen are sealed.

The daughter and granddaughter are all settled, and they are all taken care of by Jiaofang Secretary.

Sons and grandchildren can only beg for a living.

He was thinking that it would be great if this case never came out.

But it's too late to say anything.

Hearing the suffering master's accusation, he lowered his head so much that he almost fell to the ground.

The Song couple was even more petrified, because it was Ling Chi who was waiting for them.

According to the trial procedure, the teacher listens to the two.

Originally finished, allow the defendant to defend.

Sun Zhao shouted, "The defendant speaks!"

The Song couple suddenly felt dizzy, and Mrs. Song fainted directly.

Master Song knelt on the ground and said, "My lord, if you want to kill or cut up, hurry up. The grass people have nothing to say. It's useless to say it."

After speaking, he burst into tears.

Now if Sun Zhao is sentenced according to the Law of Great Liberation and directly kills the Song couple, no one can say anything more.

But the trial scene has undergone drastic changes!
Song Shizi bumped his head towards the pillar like crazy!

His head was covered in blood, and after being stopped by the officers and soldiers who rushed up quickly, he shouted: "The night watchman is not fair! If my parents are sentenced to death, I will die with them too! The night watchman seeks justice for the suffering master in name, In fact, it killed me!"

There was a lot of discussion among the people, some said that he was a white-eyed wolf who forgot the kindness of his parents in giving birth.

It is also said that he has received the great favor of his adoptive parents and lives like a god. It is actually normal to react like this.

Then the most incredible trial scene appeared.

Human nature is really elusive.

The defendant wanted death wholeheartedly and did not defend himself.

And the plaintiff's biological son criticized his biological parents for being narrow-minded!
And do your best to protect your parents.

At this moment Mrs. Song woke up, and listening to her son's words, she saw that he had suffered such a serious injury in order to protect her husband and wife, and threatened her with death.

She was deeply moved, and shouted: "Son, mother heard you say that, death is worth it! Good son, mother and father really did not love you for nothing! Forget it, since we have done this selfish and wicked matter, let Lord Sun kill us!"

Master Song also smiled and said: "If you are like this, you will die in peace! Good son, thank you for bringing us so much happiness these years. When we are old, we will die as soon as we die. Promise Dad, you will live a good life! Dad Since mother committed a crime, she will die, there is nothing left to say!"

The scene fell into chaos for a while, everyone insisted on their own opinions, and the chaos was like flies.

"quiet!"

Sun Zhao shot the gavel.

He asked: "Son, you don't resent the traffickers for taking you away from your biological parents, nor do you resent your adoptive parents for depriving you of your flesh and blood, do you?"

Song Shizi shouted frantically: "Yes! They have treated me with great kindness and great kindness. Why should I hate them! I was abused, scolded and beaten every day in my previous home, and they treated me with nothing. Not good! Just because I gave birth, I feel that I owe them! They don’t buy me anything! If I grew up in that family, I wouldn’t even be able to marry a wife now! Now I’m living a fairy life! , if you kill my parents, you'd better kill me too!"

Sun Zhao tried the case in order to bring justice to the people.

He never disdains any meaningless quarrel with anyone, especially low-level people.

He ignored Mr. Song, discussed the case with the four night watch servants, and told them the emperor's guidelines: "On the basis of ensuring fairness, exercise discretion. Specific analysis of specific cases, according to local conditions, according to current conditions. "

Discuss for a while and reach a consensus conclusion.

Then Sun Zhao cupped his hands to the upper right, and announced: "The emperor grants this official discretion. You and the two defendants have a deep relationship. This official grants your request not to kill your adoptive parents!"

There was a long-lost silence on the field.

As quiet as death.

The family of three kowtowed like crazy.

"Thank you, Lord Qingtian, for your extrajudicial grace!"

The Song couple originally thought that this was a crime of mortal death, but when they thought of the painful scene of being tortured, they were instinctively afraid.

But now that he was caught and interrogated, and there is no way to deny it, what can he do except die?

I can only sigh helplessly at the desolation of the evening scene, and then comfort myself with the joy of getting along with my son for many years: It's worth it, let's go on the road with peace of mind.Who made us commit a capital crime?

After the Emperor Historian promulgated the "Law of Great Liberation", almost any crime was not retroactive.

What does that mean?

It means that the sins before the new sins come out will not be punished.

After the new crime comes out, if the crime is committed again, it will be punished with the new crime.

And the crime of child abduction is not restricted by such an important principle!Can go back indefinitely!

This is a special case among special cases, which shows how much the emperor hated this kind of behavior.

And the sentence was so severe.

The fines are not limited to illegal gains, but even as long as child abduction is involved to buy children, the whole family’s legal income must be fined!
In a word, this crime will never be forgiven lightly!
As for parole, commutation of sentence and so on, it applies to other crimes, except for child abduction!
But who would have thought that they would survive under such a strict legal net?
It seems that the historian emperor is really a bit of a Taoist.

He is as fair as possible.

After Sun Zhao made the announcement, old man Li refused to accept it, and straightened his body and argued: "My lord, this is not fair! Can you avoid death just because his family is rich? Just because my family is poor, you can be hurt by him for so many years." ?"

The public also expressed the same emotion, and some people were even very dissatisfied, directly complaining that Mr. Sun was not as impartial and selfless as the people said, but openly favored the rich.

Sun Zhao said, "Be quiet!"

No one dared to speak.But the unconvinced look was written on his face.

Sun Zhao explained: "The purpose of the emperor setting up this law is to crack down on human traffickers and punish child abduction and trafficking. Because in most cases, the abducted children have a very deep relationship with their biological parents, and they are unwilling to be trafficked. Playing with fate in such a way that the flesh and blood are separated! Therefore, in order to crack down on child abduction from the source, the emperor issued a decree to severely punish the buyer! This is not only to severely punish this type of crime, but also to vent the anger of the abducted child and his biological parents!"

"And this case is extremely special! Among the [-] cases of the same kind, there is not one case like this! The plaintiff treated the child badly, but did not take good care of it, causing him to be abducted. The defendant not only did not abuse the child, but also He is very kind to him! Most importantly, the child himself does not hate his adoptive parents! If he blindly obeys the law of abstinence and kills his adoptive parents, he may not get a fair ending!"

The son of the Song family was overjoyed and said: "My lord is wise, your majesty is wise!"

The Song couple were too happy to speak.

Just now I was scared and didn't know what to say, but now I am happy and carried away.

The plaintiff and his wife had already cried to the point of tears. They kowtowed to Wu Song and said, "My lord, this case is unfair. Please stop it!"

Wu Song said impatiently: "Master Sun is strict in law enforcement. He has never handled a case of bad faith. Why are you so anxious? Let him hear it! If it is really unfair, I will protest before it is too late!"

The plaintiff, Mrs. Li, said: "Then, Mr. Sun, the harm we suffered is all right? You can't imagine how we have survived the loss of our son for so many years!"

After speaking, I broke down in tears.

Old man Li also cried and complained about the injustice.

Sun Zhao yelled at Song Shizi:
"Listen, Mrs. Li! It's human nature that you are willing to live like a fairy in your adoptive parents' home. Since you have this fate, I don't want to punish you for it! But, since your biological parents gave birth to you! We must take care of them until the end of their lives, this responsibility can never be shirked!"

Song's son said: "My family has a lot of money, I will not shirk it, just make sure that my biological parents live well. Don't worry, my lord."

"Listen, Mr. and Mrs. Song! This case is extremely special. Although I exonerate you from the death penalty, you cannot be exempted from punishment! You will be fined to hand over half of your belongings and apologize to Mrs. Li! In addition, half of the time in a month, Mrs. Li's son Live at your biological parents’ house, and live at yours for the other half of the time. As for holidays, spend at your biological parents’ house in the morning and at yours in the afternoon! On the first day, live at your biological parents’ house, and on the day, at your house!”

After hearing this, the Song couple hurriedly agreed: "Your Excellency, Cao Min will definitely obey!"

Wu Song asked: "Mrs. Li, do you still think Mr. Sun's decision is unfair?"

Mrs. Li hurriedly waved their hands and said:

"No no."

"This result, Caomin accepts!"

You can get both money and a son, but the adoptive parents can't be cut off. This can be regarded as human relations.

Therefore, the most critical point of the case is that the son does not hate his adoptive parents, let alone kill them.

So the judge has to be considerate of this detail.

Their business is done, and it's time to deal with the traffickers.

The trafficker was delighted in his heart, thinking that even if the Song couple's crime of Ling Chi could be absolved, wouldn't I be fine?

He winked at Mr. Song again and again, meaning that I gave you your wealth, so save me quickly!

The son of the Song family understood and begged Sun Zhao for mercy: "My lord, since my adoptive parents can be spared, can I also be spared the crime of human traffickers? I don't hate him either."

Wu Song scolded: "Fuck your mother's shit. Did the imperial court make you bargain?"

Sun Zhao also said angrily: "I see that you and your adoptive parents have a deep relationship and righteousness, and I can't bear to deprive them of their lives by law. Human traffickers have committed severe punishments and destroyed the most important human relations and legal interests! They have also destroyed social morality! You alone have a special case, so you want to abolish the court’s law? Someone, put this trafficker in jail and imprison him for life!”

(End of this chapter)