The richest judge who tramples on judicial justice, the billion-dollar empire that buries wrongful convictions
[2] Compiled from: CCTV News, Red Star News
Case review
From 2006 to 2019, Zhang Jiahui used the convenience of his positions as the Director of the First Civil Trial Division of the Hainan Provincial Higher People's Court, a member of the Judicial Committee, a Party Committee member, and Vice President to seek benefits for relevant units and individuals in case trials by making requests and other means, and illegally received a total of 43.75 million yuan directly or through others.
From 2015 to 2016, the defendant Zhang Jiahui, being a judicial staff member, instructed and authorized others to deliberately ignore facts and laws to make unjust rulings during administrative trials, in order to help her husband Liu Yuansheng have Hainan Dinas Investment Co., Ltd., which he actually controlled, pay less or no capacity fees, resulting in the company paying 4,621 yuan less in capacity fees. In addition, Zhang Jiahui and her husband also fabricated claims of helping others to smooth relations and reduce criminal penalties, defrauding related personnel of property worth 143 yuan.
Relevant legal provisions
"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 385 Crime of Acceptance of Bribes
If a state employee takes advantage of their position to request property from others, or illegally accepts property from others to seek benefits for them, it constitutes the crime of bribery. If a state employee, in economic transactions, violates state regulations and accepts various types of kickbacks or service fees under different names, and keeps them for personal use, it is also considered bribery.
Article 399-1 Crime of Wrongful Civil or Administrative Judgment
Personnel who are legally responsible for arbitration duties and deliberately make unjust rulings that go against facts and law during arbitration activities, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; if the circumstances are particularly serious, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of more than three years but not more than seven years.
Article 266: Crime of Fraud
Whoever defrauds public or private property, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined; if the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or have property confiscated. Where this Law otherwise provides, such provisions shall prevail.
Court judgment
On December 4, 2020, the First Intermediate People's Court of Hainan Province publicly announced the verdict in the case of Zhang Jiahui, former Vice President of the Hainan Provincial Higher People's Court, involving bribery, unlawful administrative judgment, and fraud. Zhang Jiahui was sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribery and fined 3.5 million yuan; 5 years in prison for unlawful administrative judgment; 10 years in prison for fraud and fined 500,000 yuan. The court decided to enforce a total prison term of 18 years and a fine of 4 million yuan. The property and income obtained through Zhang Jiahui's crimes were confiscated and handed over to the state treasury.
[1] The author's perspective
Zhang Jiahui's problem is not only that the amount of bribery she received is particularly huge, but more importantly, she has seriously undermined the judicial environment of Hainan Province, including case filing, civil and commercial trials, administrative trials, enforcement, and judicial supervision. The mark of the corruption in the judicial atmosphere caused by this damage in Hainan Province is difficult to erase.
Zhang Jiahui, as the head of the Civil Trial Division of the Hainan High Court, is herself a judicial officer, and her counter-investigation and investigative handling abilities are stronger than those of ordinary public officials, which greatly increases the difficulty of investigation and prosecution. More importantly, she holds a high position in Hainan Province and has influence in both political and business circles. For such a former Hainan judge, the courts in Hainan should have as a whole withdrawn, yet after this case was exposed, it was still prosecuted and tried in the Hainan First Intermediate Court. We have reason to believe that the criminal acts of Zhang Jiahui that have been identified so far are only the tip of the iceberg, and the 18-year sentence given to her in the first trial is too light. One should not only see the criminal acts but also fully consider the damage she has caused to the judicial environment in Hainan Province.
The Party Central Committee has emphasized the need to vigorously improve the business environment. In practice, it is not difficult to see that creating a good business environment primarily requires building a healthy judicial environment. Without judicial fairness, who will ensure the business environment? If our country’s judicial environment is like this case, relying on connections to handle lawsuits and on bribery to win them, where is the credibility of judges? Where is the professional ethics of lawyers?
One who stays near vermilion becomes red, one who stays near ink becomes black. I sincerely hope that whether they are judges or lawyers, they can uphold their original intentions on the long road of law, just as in the oath they swore at the beginning: 'To strive for social fairness and justice!'
