Fang Hong holding the administrative verdict outside of the Chongqing No. 3 Intermediate People's Court. Photo credit: nfpeople.com |
Fang Hong served one year of “reeducation through labor” (RTL) for online expression, but after his release in April 2012, he successfully challenged his detention. In the administrative verdict (translated below), the court rules that the RTL decision against Fang was illegal on both substantive and procedural grounds.
Police detained Fang in April 2011 after the civil servant used his microblog to post scatological comments criticizing then Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai and police chief Wang Lijun. Police initially decided to reprimand Fang with 10 days of administrative detention but, on the same day, reneged and issued a decision of one year of RTL. By the time Fang was released, both Bo and Wang were under investigation (following Wang’s defection to the US consulate in Chengdu), and Gong Hanzhou, another Chongqing citizen put in RTL for similar allegations of disorderly Internet conduct, had won his first administrative lawsuit.
Fang and his lawyers sued the Chongqing RTL management committee two weeks after Fang’s release, arguing that the regulations authorizing RTL were not properly enacted by the legislature and, as they conflict with state laws, should be invalidated. As a secondary challenge, they argued that even if the legal basis for his RTL was deemed valid, Fang’s comments did not meet the conditions for punishment.
The court largely avoided the first challenge, saying only that, if Fang believed the RTL provisions to be in conflict with other law, he could seek legislative review through the proper channels. (Left unstated is the fact that, in practice, the channels for seeking this type of legislative interpretation are virtually closed.) Given that Chinese courts are principally authorized to apply laws in specific cases rather than issue general rulings about whether statutes conflict with the law or the constitution, this is perhaps unsurprising.
The court’s key finding—that Fang’s comments did not constitute a serious threat to social order—is more significant insofar as it articulated a potential standard against which to judge critical comments involving government officials: “State civil servants ought to maintain a restrained, tolerant, and modest attitude toward citizen criticisms of their official actions.” As Yuan Yulai, one of Fang’s lawyers, notes on his blog, the court’s statement is reminiscent of the legal standard of “actual malice” set out by the US Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan—namely, that libel against a public official or public figure must be shown to have been carried out "with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” Even though the Chongqing court’s ruling in Fang’s case is not applicable to other cases in the same way that the Supreme Court's ruling is in the United States, the intermediate court’s willingness to set a higher threshold for restrictions on speech aimed at officials could, if the idea becomes more widely accepted by Chinese jurists, have more long-term implications for the boundaries of free speech in China.
Chongqing No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court
Administrative Verdict
(2012) CQ 3d Int. Court Adm. 1st Instance No. 00010
Plaintiff is Fang Hong; male; born April 1, 1966; Han ethnicity; employee of the Chongqing Municipality Fuling District Forestry Bureau; resides at [Omitted—Ed.], Fuling District, Chongqing Municipality; citizen identification number [Omitted—Ed.].
Legal counsel is Yuan Yulai, lawyer with the Zhejiang Zhixing Law Firm.
Legal counsel is Si Weijiang, lawyer with the Shanghai Dabang Law Firm.
Defendant is the Chongqing People’s Government Reeducation through Labor (RTL) Management Committee, located at 555 Huanglong Road, Yubei District, Chongqing Municipality.
Legal representative is Wang Aizu, head.
Legal counsel is Du Mingwu, civil servant with the Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee.
Legal counsel is Yao Gangtao, civil servant with the Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee.
Plaintiff Fang Hong did not accept the RTL decision issued by defendant Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee and filed an administrative lawsuit with this court on May 8, 2012. After accepting the case on May 14 of the same year, this court delivered to the defendant on May 17 a copy of the bill of complaint, a notice calling for response, and a notice to produce evidence. This court formed a collegiate bench in accordance with the law and held an open hearing for this case on June 29, 2012. Appearing before the court to take part in the proceedings were plaintiff Fang Hong and his legal counsel Yuan Yulai and Si Weijiang and the defendant’s legal counsel Yao Gangtao. This trial has now concluded.
On April 28, 2011, defendant Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee issued RTL Decision RTL Rev. (2011) No. 1662, which found that Fang Hong, between April 19 and April 22, 2011, had gone online to disseminate rumors on the Tencent microblog [platform] multiple times using the screen name “Bamboo Shoot Fang,” and that the facts were clear and the evidence was reliable and sufficient that he caused a serious disruption to social management order. In accordance with the State Council Decision on the Issue of Reeducation through Labor and Article 3 of the State Council Supplementary Regulations on Reeducation through Labor, both of which were approved by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, and Article 10.4 and related provisions of the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor, the defendant decided to send Fang Hong to RTL for one year.
In support of its litigation position, the defendant provided this court within the statutory deadline with the following evidence concerning the specific administrative act at issue:
- The Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee’s Hearing Notice; RTL Decision; RTL Notice; transcript of the questioning of Fang Hong at 11:48 p.m. on April 24, 2011; and the delivery receipt for the RTL Decision. These items intend to show that the Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee followed lawful procedure in issuing its RTL decision.
- A transcript of the Chongqing Municipality Fuling District Public Security Bureau’s questioning of Fang Hong between 5:40 p.m. and 6:50 p.m. on April 24, 2011; a screenshot of the [micro]blog of “Bamboo Shoot Fang,” in which four posts read: “Bamboo Shoot Fang: This time Boqilai [Bo Xilai] made a big pile of shit and told Wang Lijun to eat it. Wang Lijun brought it to the procuratorate, the procuratorate brought it to the court, and the court told Li Zhuang to eat it. Li Zhuang, the former lawyer, said he said he wasn’t hungry and that whoever made it should eat it. It got sent back to Dr. Wang, and if he doesn’t eat what his boss made, who will?”; and proof of Fang Hong’s permanent resident status. These items intend to establish the fact that Fang Hong went online and used the Tencent microblog [platform] multiple times to disseminate rumors under the screen name “Bamboo Shoot Fang” and disrupted social management order.
The defendant provided this court with the normative documents upon which the specific administrative act at issue was based, namely: State Council Decision on the Issue of Reeducation through Labor and Article 3 of the State Council Supplementary Regulations on Reeducation through Labor, both of which were approved by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, and Article 4(1) and 10.4 of the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor.
Plaintiff Fang Hong’s complaint makes [the following] statements: The plaintiff is a cadre of the Chongqing Municipality Fuling District Forestry Bureau and an Internet enthusiast who expressed his views on public matters online. On the third day of the first-instance trial in part two of the “Li Zhuang evidence fabrication case,” when the prosecution requested that the court withdraw the indictment, the plaintiff posted a comment on his Tencent microblog on April 22, 2011, under the name “Bamboo Shoot Fang”: “Boqilai [Bo Xilai] made a big pile of shit and told Wang Lijun to eat it. Wang Lijun brought it to the procuratorate to eat, the procuratorate brought it to the court to eat, and the court told Li Zhuang to eat it. Li Zhuang’s lawyer said Li Zhuang wasn’t hungry and that whoever made it should eat it.” After publishing the aforementioned microblog post, Unit Leader Xu of the Chongqing Municipality Fuling District Public Security Bureau notified the plaintiff to come to his office, where he made some notes and requested that the plaintiff delete the microblog post. The plaintiff went home and deleted the microblog post. At approximately 8 p.m. on April 24, 2011, the Chongqing Municipality Fuling District Public Security Bureau decided to place the plaintiff under administrative detention for 10 days, but later this decision was revoked. On that same day, the defendant delivered to the plaintiff a Hearing Notice from the Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee, which stated that because the plaintiff had “fabricated facts and disrupted public order” it had been decided to send him to RTL for one year in accordance with Article 10.4 of the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor. After signing his name, the plaintiff was sent to the Chongqing Municipality Fuling RTL and Drug Treatment Center. On April 24, 2012, the plaintiff was released at the end of his term after receiving a one-day extension. The plaintiff maintains that the basis for the defendant’s administrative act is the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor, which were enacted by the Ministry of Public Security and reissued by the State Council, and that these measures should be considered null and void because they contravene the provisions of the Legislation Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which is superior law. Even according to Article 10.4 of the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor, the plaintiff’s behavior is not something that is covered by RTL. The defendant’s administrative act is completely without legal basis. [The plaintiff] requests annulment of the defendant’s RTL Decision RTL Rev. (2011) No. 1662 issued on April 28, 2011.
Plaintiff Fang Hong provided this court with the following evidence: 1. The hearing notice from the Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee; 2. A notice from the Chongqing Municipality Fuling RTL and Drug Treatment Center and a transmission form for documents related to detainee Fang Hong from the Fuling RTL and Drug Treatment Center Procuratorial Office of the Chongqing People’s Procuratorate No. 3 Branch Procuratorate. This evidence is intended to show that the plaintiff’s complaint meets the statutory criteria.
The defendant argued in defense that: Between April 19 and April 22, 2011, Fang Hong went online to disseminate rumors on the Tencent microblog [platform] multiple times using the screen name “Bamboo Shoot Fang,” causing a serious disruption to social management order. Based on the facts of Fang Hong’s illegal acts, on April 28, 2011, our committee decided, in accordance with the State Council Decision on the Issue of Reeducation through Labor and Article 3 of the State Council Supplementary Regulations on Reeducation through Labor, both of which were approved by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, and Article 10.4 and related provisions of the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor, to send Fang Hong to RTL for one year for disrupting social management order. [The defendant] requests that the court make a fair ruling in accordance with the law.
The aforementioned evidence was cross-examined by the court and this court finds that all of the evidence produced by the defendant and the evidence submitted by the plaintiff falls under the category of documentary evidence. According to the requirements for documentary evidence in the Regulations on Evidence in Administrative Litigation, submitted documentary evidence should be the master copy, an original copy, or a duplicate copy that has been verified as accurate against the master copy. The aforementioned documentary evidence provided by the plaintiff and the defendant in this case consists of duplicates that have been verified as accurate against master copies, and they possess the authenticity, legality, and connectedness of evidence and should be considered credible and able to serve as evidence upon which to decide this case.
In the course of the trial, it was found that: Plaintiff Fang Hong is an employee of the Chongqing Municipality Fuling District Forestry Bureau. Between April 19 and April 22, 2011, Fang Hong used the screen name “Bamboo Shoot Fang” multiple times to make comments on the Tencent microblog [platform]. On April 22, 2011, when the plaintiff learned that the court had ruled to approve the prosecution’s request to withdraw the indictment against Li Zhuang for “overlooked crimes,” he posted an item on the Tencent microblog [platform] under the screen name “Bamboo Shoot Fang,” which said: “This time Boqilai [Bo Xilai] made a big pile of shit and told Wang Lijun to eat it. Wang Lijun brought it to the procuratorate, the procuratorate brought it to the court, and the court told Li Zhuang to eat it. Li Zhuang, the former lawyer, said he said he wasn’t hungry and that whoever made it should eat it. It got sent back to Dr. Wang, and if he doesn’t eat what his boss made, who will?” On April 24, 2011, the Chongqing Municipality Fuling District Public Security Bureau questioned the plaintiff and then decided to place him under administrative detention for 10 days before later revoking that decision. On April 24, 2011, the defendant delivered to the plaintiff a hearing notice from the Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee, which informed plaintiff Fang Hong that [the committee] decided, in accordance with Article 10.4 of the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor, to send him to RTL for one year for fabricating facts that disrupted public order and, among other things, that the plaintiff had the right to apply for a hearing and retain counsel to provide legal aid. The plaintiff never applied for a hearing. On April 28, 2011, the defendant issued RTL Decision RTL Rev. (2011) No. 1662, which found that in the case of Fang Hong’s disruption of social management order, the facts were clear and the evidence was reliable and sufficient. In accordance with the State Council Decision on the Issue of Reeducation through Labor and Article 3 of the State Council Supplementary Regulations on Reeducation through Labor, both of which were approved by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, and Article 10.4 and related provisions of the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor, it was decided to send Fang Hong to RTL for one year. On April 29, 2011, the defendant telephoned Fang Hong’s son, Fang Di, to notify him of the aforementioned RTL decision and then transferred the plaintiff to the Chongqing Municipality Fuling RTL and Drug Treatment Center to carry out RTL. On April 24, 2012, the plaintiff was released from RTL. On May 8, 2012, the plaintiff filed an administrative lawsuit with this court.
It was also found that the defendant never provided this court with evidence concerning matters such as case filing or verification [procedures associated with] RTL and that the issued RTL Decision RTL Rev. (2011) No. 1662 failed to specify the commencement and conclusion dates for enforcement of RTL for one year.
This court finds that: The State Council Decision on the Issue of Reeducation through Labor and the State Council Supplementary Regulations on Reeducation through Labor are both valid and current normative documents implemented after being approved by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. The Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor enacted by the Ministry of Public Security and reissued by the State Council are concretizations of the aforementioned valid normative documents. Article 4(1) of the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor state: “RTL management committees formed by people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, directly administered municipalities, and large and medium-sized cities provide leadership and management of RTL work and review, approve, and take custody of persons subject to RTL.” Defendant Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee has the standing to issue the specific administrative act at issue in this case.
According to Article 5 of the Administrative Litigation Law of the PRC, a people’s court shall, in trying an administrative case, conduct an examination of the legality of a specific administrative act. If the plaintiff considers the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor to be in conflict with superior law, it may, in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, submit a recommendation for review to an authorized body.
Looking at the legal facts revealed through investigation in this case, though the comments made by plaintiff Fang Hong under the screen name “Bamboo Shoot Fang” on the Tencent microblog [platform] were expressed indecently, they cannot be considered dissemination of rumors and did not cause any serious consequences of disrupting social management order and even less did they meet the basic criterion of a “serious threat to social order and state interests.” State civil servants ought to maintain a restrained, tolerant, and modest attitude toward citizen criticisms of their official actions. With respect to plaintiff Fang Hong’s act of posting on the Tencent microblog [platform] under the name “Bamboo Shoot Fang,” the defendant has no evidence to show that this act meets the circumstances of “disruptions of social order such as mass brawling, creating a serious disturbance, or instigating turmoil, where the act does not warrant criminal punishment” under Article 10.4 of the Trial Measures on Reeducation through Labor. Therefore, the facts are unclear and the evidence is insufficient for the defendant to issue a decision of RTL for one year against plaintiff Fang Hong for fabrication of facts and disruption of social management order. At the same time, the defendant’s failure to provide evidence concerning things such as the case filing and verification [procedures] and failure in the issued RTL decision to specify the commencement and conclusion dates for RTL constitute procedural illegality.
In summary, with respect to the RTL decision at issue, the facts are unclear, the evidence is insufficient, and the procedure was illegal. Because enforcement of the compulsory administrative measure has already concluded, there is nothing that can be annulled and, in accordance with the law, the RTL decision ought to be confirmed as illegal. Plaintiff Fang Hong has the right, in accordance with the law, to apply for administrative compensation. Based on this, in accordance with Article 57(2)(2) of the Supreme People’s Court Interpretation on Several Questions Regarding Implementation of the Administrative Litigation Law of the PRC, [this court] rules as follows:
To confirm that RTL Decision RTL Rev. (2011) No. 1662 issued by defendant Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee on April 28, 2011, is illegal.
The filing fee of 50 yuan in this case is to be borne by the Chongqing People’s Government RTL Management Committee.
If this verdict is not accepted, an appeal may be made to the Chongqing High People’s Court by delivering an appellate complaint to this court within 15 days of delivery of this verdict, along with a number of copies equal to the number of opposing parties to the suit.
Presiding Judge: Yang Yu
Deputy Judicial Officer: Tan Xiaoqi
Deputy Judicial Officer: Liu Houyong
[Seal of Chongqing No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court]
June 29, 2012
[Stamp that reads: “This document has been verified as accurate against the master copy”]
Clerk: Qu Xia