227: That's how the law works

After realizing he had nearly fallen into the trap set by the opposing side, Ren Jingcheng truly felt his scalp tingle, and cold sweat began to break out.

He couldn't understand why the other party was so malicious; it was just a civil dispute. For such a large compensation, the insurance company certainly couldn't pay it out lightly.

As for denying the definition of a disease, to be honest, false statements in civil lawsuits are far too common.

Seriously, anyone who has ever been involved in a lawsuit knows it happens a lot.

However, those who are punished by the Court are probably only about three in ten thousand, according to data from a certain paper.

So now, some old legal sharks have become accustomed to making false statements during trials.

If they aren't discovered, they win the lawsuit; if they are discovered by the judge or the opposing counsel, they quickly grovel and say they misremembered.

Under normal circumstances—and we emphasize normal circumstances—as long as their attitude is good, judges generally won't impose a penalty.

A moment’s thought makes it clear: under the quota system, judges’ schedules are basically full every day.

SomeGrassroots judges spend one week on concentrated hearings and another week writing judgments.

Especially during hearings, their schedules can basically be said to be packed full.

And whether it's a fine or judicial detention, etc., extra work must be done, especially for judicial detention; you also have to find bailiffs, and you have to consider whether the detention center will accept the person after they are sent there.

Detention centers are managed by the Public Security Bureau, so sometimes, for example, if they are nearly full, they are unwilling to accept people.

Why? Because their own unit might send people over at any time, so they must prioritize their own unit's needs.

So everyone can easily understand that no matter how many laws are enacted, it still depends on their enforcement.

Ren Jingcheng had naturally participated in other lawsuits before; as someone in insurance, he was involved in many lawsuits.

But he really hadn’t expected the other side to dig such a pit for him!

The Legal Director sighed upon hearing this. He didn't know what to say. As a legal professional, he clearly understood Zhou Yun's thoughts.

Since everyone has come to the Court, they must rely on their own abilities to solve the problem. Falling into someone else's trap means you are not skilled enough.

However, now he still had to debate.

“I believe the plaintiff’s opinion is problematic. First, we can clearly state that heatstroke is a type of disease. This is not only the definition in modern medicine but also our common understanding.”

“And in this case, although external high temperatures caused the heatstroke, we cannot deny that it is a disease, and in the contract, disease is a natural exclusion clause… ”

The Legal Director’s statement had no profound meaning; he simply insisted on one point: heatstroke is a disease.

And Zhou Yun had just deliberately avoided mentioning the word “heatstroke.”

After his statement, the Legal Director also presented previous cases… Yes, he had also prepared cases, specifically those from Guotai Company and other industry peers regarding whether heatstroke was an exclusion for accidental injury insurance.

Yes, all previous cases had been won; heatstroke was not compensated.

Although we are not a common law country, attentive people have gradually discovered that the role of precedents in our judicial system is becoming stronger and stronger.

Guiding cases are basically equivalent to judicial interpretations, and there are also typical cases, reference cases, and so on.

The Presiding Judge was noncommittal about these cases, only saying, “Alright, do either of you have anything to add, Plaintiff? No? Defendant? No either.”

“Good, this case is adjourned. The verdict will be announced on a later date.”

As the gavel fell, Sun Yiling said, “Lawyer Zhou, do you think we can win?”

Zhou Yun smiled upon hearing this, saying, “I can’t guarantee that for you. Just wait patiently. Even if we lose on the insurance, we still have workers’ compensation.”

On the other side, the Legal Director and Ren Jingcheng both looked displeased. During the trial, Zhou Yun had almost completely dominated them.

The opposing side had established a complete logical system to explain their position, while their side was still clinging to their original line of thinking.

Hopefully, the Anping City Intermediate Peoples Court will still consider those precedents, after all, that’s how they’ve always been ruled before.

Everyone left the Court separately, without saying anything further. At this point, nothing more could be said.

As expected, this case was submitted to the Adjudication Committee for discussion, and there was also controversy within the committee.

Some people believed that traditional insurance contracts defined it this way, and Courts across the country had ruled similarly in the past. Heatstroke is indeed a type of disease, belonging to a natural exclusion clause, and should not be compensated.

However, another group of people believed that an analysis should be conducted here, inferring based on the medical records and cause of death. If death was indeed caused by excessive heat, then it should be considered an accidental injury.

The controversy was significant, and after consideration, the Adjudication Committee resorted to the old method… requesting instructions, seeking instructions from the Hebei Province Higher People's Court.

Of course, the “Instruction System” stipulates that only questions of legal application can be requested, not how a specific case should be judged.

But this is too simple for a Court. Look, you’re asking about legal application, right? Okay, we’ll directly ask, saying whether Article 30 of the Insurance Law should be applied here.

Article 30 of the Insurance Law: …If there are two or more interpretations of a contract clause, the People’s Court or arbitration institution shall make an interpretation favorable to the insured and the beneficiary.

We generally refer to this as “ambiguous clauses should be interpreted in favor of the insured.”

Is it ambiguous here? Of course, it’s ambiguous! You just say “disease exemption,” but you don’t specify what kind of disease or under what circumstances. Who knows what disease you’re referring to?

Of course, this is also why current insurance contracts are getting thicker and thicker… In fact, it’s not unrelated to these cases.

As soon as an insurance company loses a lawsuit, it starts fixing bugs, and then it gets thicker and thicker, until it eventually becomes a pile of dung…

Such contracts, let alone for ordinary people, even for lawyers, if they are not from the financial and insurance industry, are extremely difficult to read.

But you have to admit, the Intermediate Court resolved the issue this way. I didn't ask about the judgment, did I? I asked about the application of the law.

Under such circumstances, if the Higher People's Court says it should apply here, it indicates that they believe the plaintiff should win. This is how the law is played.

Zhou Yun, of course, didn't know this. After returning, he continued to prepare, mainly for the subsequent workers' compensation determination and the enforcement issues after the determination.

If he was going to do it, he had to see it through. The money had to be enforced to completion. It would be meaningless if the case was won, but the client still couldn't get the money.

If he couldn't get the money, what kind of win was that? So, the enforcement issue must be considered!

It was the same idea as before: the company’s money could be transferred, as the lawsuit would last a long time, and the other party could transfer it at any time.

However, the money of the actual controller behind the other party was not so easy to transfer, and this was the opportunity.

In this atmosphere, the Hexi Province Higher People's Court issued an approval for the request, suggesting the application of Article 30!

Alright, the Anping City Intermediate Peoples Court understood the meaning. Now they could directly rule, and it would guarantee no reversal in the second instance!

So, on a rainy morning, Zhou Yun and Sun Yiling once again arrived at the Intermediate Court.