□ Zhang Xizi (Shanxi University)
Recently, the New Year film " Article 20" directed by Zhang Yimou and co-starring Lei Jiayin , Ma Li , Zhao Liying , Gao Ye and other stars was released.
According to Beacon Professional Edition, as of 9:08 on February 14, the number of screenings of the movie "Article 20" has increased compared with the previous day. At the same time, today's attendance rate is 13.8%, leading the new Spring Festival movies. (February 14, The Paper)
"Article 20" does not belong to the traditional "Spring Festival Family Carnival" genre in terms of subject matter. In addition, the early publicity and distribution efforts were not strong, so the results in the early stage of release were not outstanding. However, as the number of viewers increases, it has established a good reputation on major social platforms. Therefore, more and more people are "Amway" to watch the movie, and the box office trend is improving.
"Article 20" is Article 20 of the Criminal Law, which stipulates the concept of legitimate defense and its consequences. The three stories in the film are also told around this. There are the poor villagers who have been bullied for a long time by village bullies and rise up to resist and cause murders, the "righteous son" who "draws a knife to help" when he bumps into a classmate who is bullied on campus, and the bus driver who helps the girl who was molested in self-defense... In the three stories The protagonists all face legal trials for their actions: Is it self-defense, excessive defense, or intentional harm? The characters in the movie face such problems, and ordinary people outside the movie also experience the same life.
In our country, the regulation and implementation of the legitimate defense system has gone through a relatively long process. Article 17 of the Criminal Law promulgated in July 1979 stipulates the legitimate defense system. Article 20 of the Criminal Law revised in March 1997 adjusted Article 17 of the 1979 Criminal Law, relaxing the limitations of legitimate defense and changing the standard of excessive defense from "exceeding necessary limits to cause undue harm." It was revised to "clearly causing significant damage exceeding the necessary limit" and "special defense" was added. On December 18, 2018, the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued four guiding cases, including the twelfth batch of guiding cases, Chen's legitimate defense case, to further clarify the boundaries of legitimate defense.
For a long time, some people have called the legitimate defense system a "sleep clause", actually for a variety of practical reasons. For example, the thinking perspective dominated by "the dead are the most important" leads to the fact that once there are casualties in self-defense cases, the defending party will often be deemed to have "excessive defense." Another example is the "rational thinking" emphasized in legal trials, which may not fully take into account the real situation of the defending party in real situations. These are complex and diverse practical problems, and legal trials are therefore faced with layer upon layer of difficulties caused by multiple factors. The difficult identification process of Wang Yongqiang's case in the film highlights this problem.
"The law makes it more costly for bad people to commit crimes, not for good people to take action." This classic line in the movie expresses the true value of law to justice. Whether it is Hao Xiuping, the deaf-mute mother who was raped and bullied by the village bully, or the bus driver who accidentally got into a car accident while seeking explanation for his legitimate self-defense behavior, they are all the tragedies of the story. Countless viewers feel sad for their experiences, but At the same time, it also adds a heavy expectation for social "fairness and justice".
Movies are the people's art and should be a voice for people's justice. The popular screening of "Article 20" during the Spring Festival not only popularizes legal knowledge to the public, but also arouses the affirmation and admiration of justice in the hearts of millions of people. Justice should not be betrayed, and "the law cannot bow to lawlessness." Only in a just society where everyone "dare to take action" and "are willing to take action" will the people get real health and happiness.
