Red Star News:

The protection of property rights is an important gauge of the rule of law. The property rights system is the cornerstone of the effective operation of the socialist market economy. What progress has been made by the people's courts in recent years? Are there any typical cases? Thank you.

Gao Jinghong:

Thank you for your question. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the people's courts have implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's requirements for strengthening the protection of property rights in trial and law enforcement, promoting judicial protection of property rights to make further progress.

First, relevant judicial policies have been improved. A series of normative documents, including Opinions on the Judicial Protection of Property Rights and Guidelines on Supporting Development in Micro-, Small-, and Medium-Sized Enterprises have been introduced, integrating the idea of law-based, equitable, and comprehensive protection of property rights into judicial interpretations and trial cases. The people's courts have worked hard to prevent and stop taking economic disputes as criminal offenses when handling cases and turning civil liability into criminal responsibility, making property more secure and rights better protected.

Second, the exemplary role of typical cases has been fully played. Twenty typical cases concerning the protection of property rights and the lawful rights and interests of entrepreneurs have been issued in three groups, telling profound lessons through small cases and sending positive messages to the whole of society to strengthen the protection of property rights in a more vivid and direct way.

Third, the people's courts have given full play to the role of the judiciary in the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). The reform on IPR adjudication has been consistently deepened and innovation has been protected in accordance with the law, pioneering a path for judiciary protection of IPR with Chinese characteristics. Since 2013, 21 judicial interpretations of IPR, such as punitive compensation and 21 judicial policies, have been adopted, and a series of typical cases have been issued. Malicious infringements of IPR have been punished in accordance with the law. All these efforts have contributed to fostering an open, fair, and equitable environment for the development of science and technology.

Fourth, the idea of kind and civil execution has been thoroughly implemented. The people's courts have combined compulsory execution with procedure-based execution and legal punishment with judicial care and have adopted coercive measures that have as little impact on debtors as possible so as to achieve win-win outcomes for all through reined execution.

Fifth, misjudged cases have been identified and corrected in accordance with the law. The people's courts have acted in accordance with the requirement that convictions that are totally wrongful should be rectified totally; the convictions that are partially wrongful should be rectified partially; and all the mistakes should be corrected accordingly. Shouldering the responsibility of law and history, since 2017, the people's courts have identified and corrected wrongful convictions of 287 people and 231 criminal cases concerning property rights in accordance with the law, including major cases such as the case of Zhang Wenzhong, yielding favorable results.

Thank you.