html During a dance training class, Xiao Ji, a 15-year-old girl, saw her companion Xiao Ding unable to get up. Out of her friendly and helpful nature, Xiao Ji stepped forward and pulled up Xiao Ding's arms from the ground, causing him to fall to the ground and then He showed discomfort and was sent to the hospital that night. He was later diagnosed with spinal cord injury and paraplegia. Recently, the Intermediate People's Court of Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province issued a second-instance verdict on this case, ruling that Xiao Ji was not legally responsible, and the training institution was responsible for the injured girl Xiao Ding's medical expenses, disability compensation, spiritual consolation, and the cost of disability assistive devices, etc. Various expenses amounted to more than 2.11 million yuan. At this point, the "case of a girl causing injury due to her enthusiasm for helping others" that had been controversial for more than three years has been settled.
"Children's innocent and friendly nature is of course not illegal and cannot be held liable for compensation!" Sun Che, the dean of Taizhou Intermediate People's Court who handled the case, told the reporter of "Rule of Law Daily" that the focus of the case involves whether the off-campus dance training institution has done its best to educate The legal determination of management responsibilities and the good-intentioned mutual aid behavior of 5-year-old children is not only a matter of legal evaluation, but also a matter of moral judgment. Judicial decisions must take both into account and demonstrate judicial warmth.
At present, all Xiao Ding’s compensation payments have been paid in the short term. At the same time, the local judicial authorities have made every effort to ensure Xiaoding's long-term rehabilitation training through judicial assistance, judicial advice, etc., and have comprehensively standardized the operation and management of off-campus training institutions.
An accident occurred in a dance class
On December 15, 2018, 19 children, including Xiao Ding, a 5-year-old girl who was learning Chinese dance at a dance center in Xinghua City, Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, practiced dancing on a yoga mat, led by a professional dancer Teacher Xu is in class. According to the regulations of the dance center, parents are not allowed to enter the classroom when students are in class. They can watch their children's practice in the classroom through surveillance video in the waiting area.
During the second half of the class, the teacher believed that Xiao Ji and the other three children had not reached the basic skills of lower back (flexibility exercise in which the head is placed on the ground with two palms and the body is raised up like an arch bridge), and the other 16 children were asked to practice lower back except that they did not need to practice lower back. action.
When the teacher asked the children to lower their waists and stand up, some of the children, including Xiao Ding, failed to stand up in time. At this moment, Xiao Ji, who was standing on the right side of Xiao Ding, was in the nature and instinct of helping each other. He stepped forward and pulled up Xiao Ding's arms on the ground, causing Xiao Ding to fall to the ground with his back. Xiao Ding immediately expressed Feeling unwell. At this time, teacher Xu was in the second row helping students who failed to get up in time. His back was to the two children and he was not aware of the above situation.
The dance class ended soon after practicing the lowering movements, but when Xiao Ding’s mother walked into the classroom to help him get dressed, Xiao Ding cried. That night, the child felt pain in his lower limbs, and his parents immediately sent him to a local hospital for examination. He rushed to the Children's Hospital of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province for hospitalization the next day. He was hospitalized and diagnosed with thoracolumbar spinal cord injury, and was later transferred to a rehabilitation hospital for hospitalization. The discharge diagnosis was spinal cord injury, paraplegia, neurogenic bladder , and neurogenic bowel. During this period, the dance center staff accompanied Xiao Ding and his parents to Shanghai and other hospitals for medical treatment, and paid him 525,000 yuan.
In March 2020, the plaintiff Xiao Ding and his mother Zhang sued Xiao Ji, his parents, and the dance center to the Xinghua People’s Court. They believed that the dance center was poorly managed and the defendant Xiao Ji’s behavior caused Xiao Ding to be injured during training. Although After treatment, the injury was temporarily under control, but the family was unable to continue treatment. The defendant Xiao Ji and his guardian were required to compensate 2.1419 million yuan for various losses, and the defendant dance center assumed joint and several liability.
Defendant Xiao Ji and his parents argued in the lawsuit that Xiao Ji had no fault in the incident and should not be liable for compensation.
Dance Center argued that the center was a legal institution registered in accordance with the law. It was a fact that the plaintiff participated in dance training, but it did not bear the responsibility for guardianship and had no fault in management. It also believed that the plaintiff's injuries were caused by the direct actions of the defendant Xiao Ji. , parents are well aware of the risks of participating in dance training, and the plaintiff’s own body is also different.
On April 3, 2020, the People's Court of Xinghua City, Jiangsu Province commissioned the Forensic Appraisal Institute of Jiangsu University to conduct a forensic appraisal. The appraisal opinion was that Xiao Ding suffered from thoracic and lumbar spinal cord injury due to trauma, resulting in paraplegia (muscle strength of both lower limbs level 1), accompanied by severe defecation. Functional dysfunction and severe urinary dysfunction have constituted a first-level disability due to human injury and have completely lost the ability to work, requiring long-term care.
Court Judgment Clear Legal Analysis
On December 3, 2020, the People’s Court of Xinghua City, Jiangsu Province made a first-instance judgment, holding that the dance center, as a dance education manager, has the responsibilities of education, management, and protection during the period when the plaintiff is learning dance, especially For the convenience of management, parents of students are not allowed to enter the classroom, which further burdens the dance center’s protective responsibilities. Lowering the waist is a dangerous dance training movement and should be watched and supported by adults. However, there was only one professional dance teacher for 19 children at the time of the incident, so it was impossible to ensure that all children were within the control of the teacher. The dance center believed that He failed to fulfill his complete safety protection obligations and was obviously at fault for the occurrence of this case and should bear corresponding liability for compensation.
Based on the circumstances of all parties, the court determined that the defendant Xiao Ji and his guardian should bear 10% of the responsibility, and the defendant dance center should bear 90% of the responsibility. Accordingly, the court ruled that the dance center should pay compensation of more than 1.37 million yuan, and Xiao Ji and his guardian should pay compensation of more than 210,000 yuan. . After the first instance verdict, the defendants were all dissatisfied and appealed to the Taizhou Intermediate Court.
In the second instance, the parties had no objection to the facts found by the court of first instance, and Xiao Ji’s parents voluntarily promised to compensate Xiao Ding 50,000 yuan. The court conducted a trial on core issues such as the subject responsible for compensation.
The court held that the dance center stated in the admission notice for new students that "except for open classes, parents are not allowed to enter the classroom without the teacher's permission during class time, so as not to distract students and affect the teaching effect." This provision makes parents The guardianship responsibility cannot be fulfilled in practice, so the children who are undergoing dance training during the class should have full supervision, management and protection responsibilities.
The court held that there was only one professional dance teacher on staff on the day of the incident. The dance teacher did not provide waist protection when training for the dangerous dance move of lowering the waist, nor did he respond to Xiao Ji's move to pull up Xiao Ding's arms. If you discover and stop it in a timely manner and fail to fulfill your education, management and protection responsibilities, you should be liable for compensation according to law.
The court also held that when Xiao Ding had difficulty getting up, Xiao Ji spontaneously went to help out of goodwill to help his companions, and this behavior was not illegal. As a person without capacity for civil conduct, Xiao Ji subjectively did not intend to cause harm, and objectively did not have the cognitive ability to foresee that his behavior might cause harm to his companions. Therefore, he should not be liable for compensation, and the judgment of the first instance court should be corrected. The court believed that Xiao Ji's parents' voluntary compensation reflected the traditional virtues of mutual assistance and friendship of the Chinese nation, and deeply praised and allowed it.
In summary, the court of second instance revoked the original judgment and ruled that the dance center should bear the liability of 2.1148 million yuan for Xiaoding’s personal injury. After deducting the previous payment, the dance center still needs to pay more than 1.588 million yuan.
Effectively protect children's rights
"Children are in the stage of growth and development. Because of their young age and simplicity, their body's resistance to external intrusion and their own immune system are very poor, and their ability to judge things and protect themselves is also very poor. They are particularly vulnerable to harm and belong to a vulnerable group in society, which requires the attention and care of the whole society and special legal protection." Sun Zhe, the presiding judge of the case and president of Taizhou Intermediate People's Court, said in an interview with a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily. There is a practical need to establish a special protection mechanism for persons without capacity for civil conduct who are out of the scope of guardianship and protection.
In recent years, the proportion of children studying in off-campus training institutions has increased year by year. Due to poor management, irregular operation, and insufficient risk awareness of off-campus training institutions, children have often suffered personal harm while studying in off-campus training institutions.
Sun Che introduced that according to the provisions of the Tort Liability Law , when a person without capacity for civil conduct suffers personal injury while studying or living in a kindergarten, school or other educational institution, whether the educational institution has fulfilled its education and management responsibilities shall be regarded as whether it shall bear the responsibility. Standards for civil liability, and the presumption of fault is implemented. When a school cannot prove that it has fulfilled its education and management responsibilities, it is presumed that it is at fault and should bear civil liability.
A reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" learned that the Taizhou Intermediate People's Court did not settle the case with one verdict, but actively extended its judicial functions such as post-judgment return visits and assistance. Among them, the court ruled that Xiaoding’s post-care fees for 20 years should be paid in one lump sum, and actively urged the dance center to fulfill its payment obligations in full and in a timely manner. At the same time, they also specifically applied for judicial assistance for Xiaoding, and visited the victim many times to understand his difficulties and problems, and to care about his subsequent life and study status. At present, Xiaoding will go to elementary school. The court communicated and negotiated with the school and determined the plan of only attending school for half a day, receiving physical therapy at home in the afternoon, and regularly going to the hospital to receive acupuncture treatment.
In addition, the court also sent judicial suggestions to the Xinghua Municipal Education Bureau to further standardize the operations of off-campus training institutions, reduce the risks that minors may encounter, and encourage off-campus training institutions to purchase commercial insurance to improve their ability to resist risks and civil compensation. .
Author | Rule of Law Daily All-Media Reporter Ding Guofeng
Drawing | Gao Yue
Source | Rule of Law Daily
Editor | Han Yuting Zhu Chanchan Ding Zhaoru
