my wife is a consul

Chapter 16

The hearing room is much smaller than the trial room. There are few seats for the audience and no seats for the jury. The prosecution and the defense stand on the left and right of the parties.

Judge Feng Xuefan was well-dressed, probably under 50 years old, his hair was dyed black and shiny, and he was very elegant.

When he entered the court through the inner door, the clerk called "stand up" crisply, and everyone stood up, including the few people in the auditorium.

Both Cheng Ye and Liu Hanliang smiled, and even Feng Xuefan glanced at them and nodded slightly.

Imperial judges are tenured for life. Unless the relevant judges are impeached by the local (federal) parliament, or they resign and retire, they will die in office and no one will be able to move them.

As far as Donghai is concerned, the impeachment power of judges at all levels belongs to the Donghai City Council.

Therefore, judges are usually very individual and fearless. For example, Feng Xuefan knew Cheng Ye and the other two, so he did not avoid suspicion.

Feng Xuefan walked up to the judge's seat, and just as he took his seat, Lu Ming raised his hand.

"Your Honor, I request that you be replaced!"

The courtroom immediately fell silent, and the clerk, who was about to read out the summary of the case, was also stunned. She was a delicate little girl, wearing a black professional skirt, with a slim appearance.

Liu Hanliang and Cheng also looked at each other with gloating smiles on their faces.

In fact, Judge Feng Xuefan is not their strong backing. This guy is trying to gain fame and has the ambition to enter the East China Sea High Court. In court, he is fairly fair most of the time.

But if anyone offends him, it will be a matter of pennies. He is narrow-minded and has a strong desire for revenge. This rookie lawyer will not be able to survive in Beiguan in the future.

"Hmm..." Feng Xuefan stared at Lu Ming, and the handsome female clerk below hurriedly said, "The defendant's attorney, Lu Qianxing's junior defense attorney."

"Lu Qianxing, do you think I'm not fair enough? Do you think I have a relationship with the plaintiff?" Feng Xuefan looked calm.

"No, Your Honor, although I have only been in Beiguan for a few days, I have heard of your reputation for justice."

Feng Xuefan frowned, "Then tell the reason why you want to change the judge."

Lu Ming nodded, "Because it is unconstitutional for you to hear this case. The defendant is an Erifene girl. According to Appendix 5 of the Old Testament of the Imperial Code, all criminal and civil lawsuits and Disputes should all be heard by Erifene judges, and this appendix has never been explicitly abolished by the Supreme Court of the Empire or the Federal Parliament! Therefore, the Old Testament has always been a part of the Constitution!"

Feng Xuefan was stunned, faintly, as if in the early days of the empire, there was such an old covenant that gave Westerners great privileges.

And it is normal that this ancient law has not been abolished, because gradually, it will no longer be used.

In the empire, including the near-independent state of the four northern provinces, the chief judges of the courts at all levels are all Westerners.

Although it is not uncommon for Westerners’ cases to be heard by Zhongzhou judges in areas where Central Continent people gather, but who can wrongly accuse Westerners?

This ancient clause was gradually forgotten.

But whether there are clear terms and whether they have been abolished, he really doesn't know.

After pondering for a while, Feng Xuefan nodded, "Adjourn the court for 10 minutes." He was going to consult the chief judge.

Both Liu Hanliang and Cheng were also stunned.

Wang Daan, who was sitting in the auditorium, clenched his fists and secretly called out hello.

……

In the corridor leading to the lounge, the two sides walked on each side.

Cheng also looked at Wang Da'an and smiled: "Lawyer Wang, is your firm going to confront us?"

Wang Daan was stunned, mumbling, not knowing what he was talking about, and flew away early full of excitement.

In my own small temple, what did you say "fight against Taiwan"?He coughed and was blown away.

Lu Ming smiled: "I'm just fighting against you today, you can't represent the collective of twelve lawyers in your law firm, can you?"

Cheng also looked at him and smiled contemptuously, "Lawyer Lu, you have successfully angered me! Originally, I wanted to save you some face." He took out a note from the folder and turned to Pan Mi La said: "Ms. Pamela, this is the letter of apology signed by Jin Taohua and your daughter. You may not know what it means, and the rookie lawyer you hired may not explain it to you. So, wait a while. You can ask lawyer Wang Daan to give you a detailed explanation!"

After finishing speaking, he smiled at Lu Ming, turned around and opened the door with Liu Hanliang, and entered the plaintiff's lounge.

……

The defendant's lounge is opposite the plaintiff's lounge. As soon as he entered the room, Wang Daan became anxious and shouted at Jintaohua: "What did you do? How could you write this?! If you don't understand, just ask someone who understands it? ! Do you know? This will not only harm you, but also Bisi!"

Biting her red lips, Pamela said to Lu Ming, "Go talk to them now, reconcile, and see how much we need to pay."

She knew a little bit about the law, and she knew that having such an apology letter meant losing more than half of the lawsuit.

Jin Taohua's face was covered with tears, "I, I don't know, at that time they said that as long as they wrote an apology letter, they would forgive us, I, I wrote it with Bisi, who knows, they will still sue us..."

Lu Ming nodded, "In other words, your letter of apology has not been forgiven by the other party, and this is also a settlement agreement that has not been reached."

"It doesn't matter what it is!" Wang Da'an looked at this fool, his face was full of hatred, and he said loudly: "If you really want to help, you should apologize now and ask for reconciliation, and don't harm Mrs. Pamela and Bisi Miss!"

Lu Ming waved his hand and looked at Bisi: "I want to help you fight, don't be afraid, even if you lose, the jury will award us money at most. If it gets to that point, I'll sell the car and give you money, okay? Now Well, let's keep fighting."

"Then Liu Hanliang, it's too easy to fake an injury, can you afford it? Who knows where you rented that car?! Is it yours after selling it?! Don't you just live across from me? Really rich people can Where do you live?!" Wang Daan was very angry.

Lu Ming looked at him, but nodded in his heart. Originally, his impression of him was not bad, but now, he added a little more points. Although he was timid and cautious, he was a warm-hearted person.

Pan Mila also sighed softly at this time: "Lawyer Lu, thank you, but let's reconcile. If you don't want to apologize, I'll go..."

But Bisi looked at Lu Ming with tears in her eyes, and said, "Uncle, I'm not wrong..." Biting her lips, she couldn't help crying, "Uncle, I hope you can tell the judge and everyone that I am not wrong, I am not bad child……"

Everyone was stunned, and there was no sound for a moment, only Bisi's weeping childish voice echoed.

"I'm not wrong, I'm not a bad boy..."

Inexplicably, it makes people's nose a little sour.

Wang Daan also sighed deeply.

Pan Mila's pretty face was complicated, and she finally said, "Let's fight. If you lose, you can appeal. If you lose in the end, at worst, I'll borrow money."

"Thank you, Mom..." Biss turned around and threw herself into Pamela's arms, sobbing softly.

Pamela lovingly stroked her doll-like smooth golden hair, and kissed her face lightly.

Wang Da'an wanted to say something, but he couldn't say it now, he sighed in his heart, and could only take one step at a time.

……

The bailiff came to inform them that the court session was ten minutes later.

Everyone entered the court. When Liu Hanliang passed by Lu Ming, he snorted coldly, "From now on, if you want to reconcile, kneel down and kowtow to me!"

Lu Ming pretended not to hear it. In court, every word he said had its value, and it was a waste to use it on him.

As for the terms of the Old Testament, in fact, there are many similar situations in the Western laws of the previous life. Very old laws are completely out of touch with the times, but because of this, they have not been abolished, and then they are suddenly brought up. Wonderful.For example, the law prohibiting women from wearing trousers in Paris was abolished in the 21st century and has existed for more than 200 years.

Lu Ming is particularly concerned about similar situations in this world. Sometimes, these strange legal texts will have unexpected effects.

But unexpectedly, everyone stood up, and the person who walked from the inner door of the hearing court to the judge's seat was a little old lady, and she was obviously from Central Continent, not the chief judge of Western countries.

The little old lady seemed to be over 70 years old. She was shrunk and looked very thin. She was wrapped in a large black judge's robe, but she walked like a gust of wind and looked very energetic.

Out of the corner of Lu Ming's eyes, he caught sight of Liu Hanliang and Cheng Ye's expressions as if they had eaten flies.

"Don't raise any more objections. This is Li Wenhua and Li Guan, the second judge. She can..."

Originally, Wang Daan, who was in the first row of the auditorium, leaned forward to remind Lu Ming, but when the little old lady looked over with sharp eyes, he immediately shivered with fright, and hurriedly retracted his body.

Li Guan sat down and cleared his throat: "The chief judge, Your Excellency Christine, entrusted me to conduct the hearing of this case."

Looking at Lu Ming, "Lawyer Lu Qianxing, do you think it's okay?"

Lu Ming stood up, "Your Majesty, I have no objection, because according to the third note in Appendix 5 of the Old Testament, when the judge who heard the Erifene case was entrusted by Judge Griffene, the hearing and trial of the case will have the force of law."

The little old lady's sharp eyes became a little surprised, she stared at Lu Ming and nodded slightly.

She originally thought that this rookie apologist had only heard the legends of the Old Testament and was talking nonsense to try his luck, but she didn't think that this little guy seemed to be very familiar with the details of the Old Testament.

Even for her, it took a long time to find out the information.

"Let's go!" She waved her hand.

"Your Honor, I represent the victim, Mr. Liu Hanliang..." Cheng Ye had just stood up, but he hadn't finished speaking.

Lu Ming immediately interrupted, "I object, the plaintiff's lawsuit has not been formally filed, so I object to the plaintiff's attorney referring to the plaintiff as a "victim". people!"

Including Wang Daan, everyone in the courtroom was stunned. Even if there were only a few people in the auditorium, some of them just liked to listen to the excitement, but they had been ill for a long time, and they had a little understanding of legal knowledge after a long time.

For the first time, I met such a serious lawyer.

Anger appeared on Cheng Ye's face, "I object to the defendant's attorney, interrupting my presentation of the case."

The little old lady blinked her eyes, thought for a while, and pointed to Lu Ming: "Your objection is valid." Looking at Cheng Ye, "Your objection is invalid."

Cheng also gritted his teeth, "Yes, Your Honor." After thinking for a while, he continued: "On behalf of Mr. Liu Hanliang, I sue Ms. Biss Stewart for failing to clean up the stagnant water in the restaurant in time, causing my client to accidentally fall and suffer huge losses. loss."

The little old lady flipped through the various evidences submitted by the plaintiff in the dossier, frowned, and looked at Lu Ming.

"Ms. Bisi, it's not intentional..." Before Lu Ming could finish speaking, the little old lady had already shaken her head, she picked up the gavel and was about to adjudicate the case and set up a jury for the trial.

"This kind of reason should be heard by the jury!"

To Lu Ming, she looked a little disappointed. Originally, Lu Ming was very familiar with the Old Testament, and he was even more careful about the plaintiff's words. It was quite new and very eye-catching. This young man is a bit interesting.

Unexpectedly, for such a simple case, this kid surnamed Lu didn't know that he immediately put forward the responsibility in the restaurant. Among the rookies, he is relatively soft.

And whether the defendant was intentional or not, it has nothing to do with the hearing court.

The hearing court is mainly a review of the plaintiff's evidence to see if it is sufficient, and if it is sufficient, it will enter the trial stage.

The real distinction of responsibility is at the trial stage, which is judged by the jury.

I don't know how this rookie lawyer got his lawyer license.

Her original expectation immediately turned into disappointment.

Seeing the movement of her picking up the gavel, Liu Hanliang and Cheng Ye's faces immediately filled with joy.

"Your Honor, please give me 2 minutes..." Lu Ming said hastily.

"One minute!" She put down the gavel.

"Your Honor, the restaurant was very busy at that time, but my client, Biss, although she did not clean up the stagnant water as required or put up a reminder sign in front of the stagnant water, she had already blocked the stagnant water with a broom, and the stagnant water The location of the water is very remote, please see my schematic diagram."

He picked up a picture, which he had sketched, and a court clerk came up and sent his sketch to the judge's bench.

Lu Ming continued: "Actually, normal people will take a detour. It is not the only way to go to the bathroom, but in the corner. Normal people will not walk sideways like crabs when going to the bathroom."

"Objection!" Cheng also stood up, "I object to the insult to my client by the defendant's lawyer."

The old lady made a gesture, and Cheng also had no choice but to sit down.

Lu Ming continued: "And, Your Honor, the water stains there were originally the plaintiff's dissatisfaction with the drink he spilled. I don't think there is any fault at all between the restaurant and Miss Biss, because although the plaintiff and the restaurant have formed a certain contractual relationship, but in this contract, the restaurant and Ms. Biss only need to provide a safe and comfortable dining environment and value-for-money meals, and due to the plaintiff’s reasons, the unsafe factors created, all consequences should be borne by the plaintiff Bear, not to mention, my client has already tried his best to help the plaintiff eliminate the risk factors..."

"One minute..." The old lady looked at her watch and pondered, "It's still far-fetched. When a customer accidentally spills water while dining in the restaurant, isn't the restaurant obliged to clean it?"

The old lady paused, "Besides, these reasons should be heard by the jury, and then let them decide whether you are right or wrong, not by the hearing court."

Lu Ming said: "That's not what I mean. What I mean is that many of our jurisprudence now pays too much attention to unity, and does not conduct in-depth analysis and distinction of cases. The division of legal obligations still depends on the specific interaction process between the two parties. In this case, Mr. Liu Hanliang obviously caused trouble on purpose, and if this requires a trial, it is just a waste of court resources. The hearing court should have excluded these unreasonable and even malicious lawsuits!"

"Your Honor..." Cheng Ye stood up and took out the apology letter from Jin Taohua and Bisi.

Lu Ming said very quickly: "Your Honor, now is my presentation time."

The little old lady made a gesture, and Cheng Ye had no choice but to sit down.

Lu Ming held up a piece of paper, "Your Honor, this is the settlement agreement proposed by the plaintiff. Of course, in view of Mr. Liu Hanliang's reputation, my client immediately rejected it."

The legal officer sent the paper to the judge's bench, which was an agreement to ask Bisi to be a maid to take care of Liu Hanliang until he recovered from his leg injury.

The little old lady frowned immediately as she watched, and looked up at Bisi, who was as cute as a doll but was now timid and distressing.

Looking at Liu Hanliang who was full of wretchedness, the little old lady had anger in her eyes.

Lu Ming said: "Of course, from my personal point of view, I think that all unreached settlement agreements should not be brought to court."

The little old lady let out an ooh, and looked at Lu Ming with great interest: "What do you mean?"

"Because the settlement agreement is never evidence. For example, if my client hopes to calm down after an apology, in order not to cause more trouble, he may request a settlement through an apology."

"But if this kind of apology settlement agreement is seen by the judge and jury, they will usually preconceive that my client is at fault, which will affect the judgment of the judge and jury."

"For a fair trial of a case, the judge and jury should not have a preset position. In the trial of the case, they should follow the evidence. Only in this way can they be impartial."

The little old lady listened, a strange look flashed in her little eyes, she pondered for a while, "It makes sense."

Cheng Ye, who was holding the apology in the plaintiff's seat, almost had his nose crooked. Are you human?You are not a man!
Oh, you showed the terms of the settlement I offered to the judge, and then talked about it for a while, why should the unreached settlement agreement not be presented in court, will it affect the judge's judgment?

After you have finished influencing, you will not influence Lao Tzu anymore?
The little old lady looked at the settlement agreement again, with disgust on her face, she raised her head and said, "I agree with the defendant's lawyer. Too much damage, no need to waste public money trial!
"However, the defendant needs to apologize to the plaintiff, and the case is dismissed!"

"Boom" knocked down the gavel.

"Your Honor, here are the apologies from the defendant restaurant owner Jin Taohua and the defendant Bisi..."

"I also agree with the defendant's lawyer. If a settlement agreement has not been reached, it will affect the default position of the judge and jury. From today, in my court, this behavior will be abolished!" Boom, another gavel.

Cheng Ye was dumbfounded, "Your Honor..."

"Rejected!" The little old lady struck the gavel again, then stood up.

"Stand up!" the clerk said crisply.

The little old lady walked down the steps to the inner door, turned around at the door, and saw the restaurant proprietress thanking the rookie lawyer with tears in her eyes. She understood that she didn't shift the responsibility to the restaurant at first. Very good, I don’t want the restaurant to become the defendant’s bankrupt; secondly, if the other party has an apology, even if the responsibility is shifted to the restaurant, I will not directly dismiss the case, but will file the case. The evidence was judged by the jury.

Well, this court should not see the out-of-court agreement without a settlement, let alone the jury.

Otherwise, let the judges and jurors have some preset positions.

Very novel point of view, but very reasonable.

It was as if, I had thought about this for a long time, but I never knew where the trick was, but this little rookie explained it right away.

She stood still suddenly and shouted, "Lu Qianxing, accompany me to the bar for a drink tonight."

Over there, Lu Ming smiled and said to Cheng Ye: "You have our formal apology letter in your hand, it seems that my client doesn't need to express his apology verbally!"

Cheng was so angry that his lungs would explode.

At this moment, Li Guan who walked to the inner door suddenly yelled this sentence.

Everyone in the court was stunned, but it wasn't surprising that Li Guan asked someone to drink.

Because Li Guan has always been independent and has high prestige in the legal world, no one can do anything to her.

What is surprising is that this Li Guan would actually favor a rookie lawyer.

Cheng also gritted his teeth, but judges shouldn't be able to work for a lifetime, that's why there are so many freaks!Unfortunately, I can't afford to provoke him.

Liu Hanliang stared at Lu Ming with a gloomy expression.

Cheng was also startled when he saw his face. This good young man can do almost anything he wants to do. Now that he has ruined his affairs, I am afraid that there will be no good fruit to eat.

My heart was immediately filled with great fear, and for a while, I forgot to curse that old lady Li.

Over there, looking at the stunned Lu Ming, Li Guan blinked her eyes mischievously, "Don't worry, I'm old and I'm not interested in fresh meat, don't be afraid that I'll eat you!"

Lu Ming couldn't laugh or cry, "Li Guan, it's my honor to taste wine with you."

"Seven o'clock in the evening, Fiona's bar!" After finishing speaking, the little old lady opened the door and entered the inner courtyard.

Lu Ming was speechless for a moment. The Orpheus bar was a prototype of a disco, and it was too noisy to go by itself. After all, a disco should be the world of teenagers, but he didn't think that this old lady was very trendy.

Lu Ming scratched his head and was about to leave when the handsome female clerk walked over quickly, "Lawyer Lu, Lawyer Cheng, please follow me to monitor the changes in your assessment scores!"

Cheng Ye's expression changed immediately, but he forgot about it.

The case was directly dismissed, which was worse than losing a lawsuit, it was the most serious punishment, and the points were twice as much as losing a lawsuit.

If you lose the lawsuit normally, [-]% of the points will be deducted, or [-] points, whichever is the maximum of the two.

But if the case cannot be filed directly, 20.00% of the assessment points will be deducted.

He originally scored 156.75 points, which is considered a relatively high score among the ordinary lawyers in Beiguan. Now, more than 31 points will be deducted in one fell swoop.

Seeing Lu Ming with a dazed face, and Wang Daan, who was hugging Lu Ming and celebrating with excitement, his eyes were about to burst into flames, but he had no choice but to follow the little clerk to register to see her new After entering his own file with his score records, and sending him a certificate of new points and stamping it, he felt that today was the most unlucky day in his life.

……

After leaving the court, Wang Daan's excitement gradually faded away. Looking at the calm Lu Ming, he was speechless for a moment.

What's the matter, a lawsuit, the assessment score surpassed my previous highest score record. For more than 30 years, my assessment score has wandered between minus 90 points and plus 50 points, barely maintained, less than minus 100 points, Otherwise, your lawyer license will be revoked.

Now my score is only one step away from being revoked as a lawyer, which is very dangerous.

This guy, just a few days after he became a registered lawyer, denied his decades of struggle.

With the favor of the goddess of luck, no one can stop it.

However, this guy is really powerful. I don’t know who heard those arguments, but from a legal point of view, they are simply shocking. This guy’s teacher must be at the level of a barrister.

However, seeing Lu Ming coaxing Luth who was crying in his arms, Wang Daan didn't bother, "Manager Jin, let me see you off!"

Wang Daan walked to Jin Taohua, who drove his second-hand car bought for more than 100 yuan.

"I, I want to thank Mr. Lu." Seeing Lu Ming talking to Pan Mila, Jin Taohua didn't dare to go over to disturb her.

"There will be opportunities in the future!" Wang Daan said with a smile.

Jin Taohua also thought about it, "Okay, thank you, Lawyer Wang." Follow Wang Daan and walk towards the direction where he parked.

"Okay, okay, it won't be pretty anymore if you cry!" Lu Ming scratched the upturned nose of the beautiful loli who was holding him.

Bisi gradually stopped crying, but she hugged Lu Ming's arm and refused to let go.

She has never had a father, and this is the first time she encounters a big tree that can shelter her from wind and rain.

Pan Mila frowned at Bisi's actions, but at this moment, she couldn't bear to scold her any longer, and looked at Lu Ming again, and said sincerely, "Mr. Lu, thank you!"

Lu Ming smiled: "Okay, I'll take you home."

Pan Mila nodded slightly, and walked towards the direction where he parked with Lu Ming. Bisi still hugged Lu Ming's arm and refused to let go.

"How much is the lawyer's fee? I'll write you a check later?..." Pamela said as she walked.

Lu Ming was looking at Bisi amusedly, thinking that it's a pity that his body is really weak, otherwise it would be fun to hang her with one arm.

My own father hung himself like this when he was a child.

father, mother...

Lu Ming suddenly felt extremely depressed.

I never think about these things, but Bisi's actions today reminded me of my relatives who I fear will never be seen again in my eternal life.

Just as she was secretly sad, the fragrant wind blew gently, and Pamela's soft voice also floated into her ears.

"Lawyer Lu? How much is the lawyer's fee?"

Lu Ming came back to his senses, smiled and said, "This is my first lawsuit in Donghai, so let it be free."

"How about that? Wait a few days and I'll write you a check."

Lu Ming knew what was going on in his heart, but naturally he didn't have to embarrass this Western lady, so he smiled and said, "Whatever, I'm not in a hurry."

Just in time, it came to the phantom of the snow dragon with smooth lines and shiny black paint.

"The car is nice!" Pan Mila looked at Lu Ming suspiciously, "Is Mr. Lu rich?"

Lu Ming rubbed his nose. It had been a day before he noticed his car. Obviously, she was indifferent on the surface. In fact, she loved her daughter very much, so she never paid much attention to other things. Before the case was over, she kept thinking about it. Not yet.

"Get in the car!" Lu Ming didn't have a gentleman's demeanor, so he opened the door on his side and got in the car first.

Pan Mila hesitated for a moment, and said, "Lawyer Lu, can you go to my laundry shop, I have some legal questions I want to consult with you."

Lu Ming nodded: "Okay, I'm just going home, and I'll live upstairs from your laundry."

(End of this chapter)