29: There's only a few dollars involved in this case, is it necessary to risk your life like this?

There's a new saying these days: in a debate between two sides, whoever loses their cool first loses.

Chai Yaoyang was a bit flustered right now.

Logically speaking, it's usually difficult for someone like him to lose his cool, but the subsequent impact of this case was too great, and being told this to his face by the other party, Chai Yaoyang couldn't hold back.

The main reason was that the other party was making too grand of an accusation, talking about "trampling on the law" and "whether or not to administer according to law."

He was just the head of the expropriation office, responsible for specific work.

So, truly, Chai Yaoyang felt wronged; this wasn't his fault, it was a widespread phenomenon—wanting to get things done without money, which leads to such situations.

Beside Zhou Yun, Sun Chenhui was already dumbfounded.

No, this Lawyer Zhou seemed a bit... a bit too righteous, didn't he? Why did it feel like he was more agitated about this matter than himself?

So Sun Chenhui whispered beside Zhou Yun, "Lawyer Zhou, that's... not necessary, really not necessary..."

Zhou Yun smiled and nodded, still composed, saying, "What do you mean? Of course, it's the literal meaning. Isn't an illegal administrative act a trampling on the law?"

"You clearly know that doing this is wrong, yet you still did it. Is there a problem with what I said?"

"You..."

Just as he spoke, the Presiding Judge above struck the gavel: "Stop talking, what are you doing? This is the Court, is it a place for you to argue?"

After a pause, the Presiding Judge continued, "Defendant, you are hereby warned. If such behavior occurs again, you will be expelled from the courtroom, understand?"

Chai Yaoyang immediately became even more displeased and was about to say something, but Lao Mingcheng quickly pulled him aside.

The Presiding Judge then looked at Zhou Yun: "Plaintiff's agent, speak properly and do not verbally attack the other party. You are also warned!"

In fact, courtroom arguments are truly common for judges.

Many people think the Court is a sacred place, imagining judges sitting majestically above.

But actually, if you attend more hearings, you'll know that arguments in Court are very common.

Moreover, some cases not only involve arguments but also many other things.

For example, there was once a divorce case where the woman sued for divorce, claiming the man was impotent, and both husband and wife desperately recounted details of their sex life in Court.

The man wanted to prove he wasn't impotent, that he was full of vigor!

This had nothing to do with divorce; even if they divorced, he couldn't be saddled with such a burden.

The woman just wanted a divorce but had no other suitable reason, so she wanted to prove the man was impotent.

She kept trying to get the judge to arbitrate, but the poor judge, a maiden who had been single since birth, sat there, her face flushed and utterly bewildered, unable to stop them...

That scene, if the trial video were released, it wouldn't even pass review!

While administrative cases are supposed to be more serious, it's only slightly so. The plaintiff usually feels greatly wronged, so arguing during the lawsuit is perfectly normal.

Why don't judges deal with it? It's simple: they can't do anything drastic over such a minor issue. Usually, it's a warning followed by criticism and education. Only if it's truly excessive will bailiffs be called in to handle it.

It's just that the Presiding Judge was also a bit confused. Previously, it was always the parties who fired away, with lawyers pulling them back. But this time, the lawyer jumped in and started firing, while the party was instead trying to calm the lawyer down...

Is there something wrong with this lawyer's head?

Thinking this, the Presiding Judge said, "Alright, the trial continues. Defendant, do you have anything else to say?"

Wang Zhongda spoke, "I do not agree with the plaintiff's view. This is merely a procedural flaw..."

This time, his words were cut off halfway by the Presiding Judge: "Don't repeat that. Do you have any new points?"

Wang Zhongda immediately choked up, and after a long while, he said, "No, nothing..."

"And the plaintiff, do you have anything to add?" the Presiding Judge asked again.

Zhou Yun was secretly pleased. He didn't know why, but ever since he transmigrated, he felt a bit more unrestrained in handling cases.

In his previous life, he would never have said such things.

But in this life, he felt he couldn't stand these things and wanted to say them to their face.

He used to think it was because he had a system that made him feel good, but now it seemed his personality had changed.

But it didn't matter. Since he finally had a chance to start over, he would definitely do whatever made him happy.

He felt so good cursing just now!

Most importantly, he wasn't just cursing; he was pointing out a very serious problem: the severity of procedural illegality in administrative actions.

Compensating first then demolishing is a lawful act, but demolishing first then compensating directly becomes an act of infringing on others' property rights. Even if you provide sufficient compensation later, the act itself is still illegal!

There was one sentence he didn't dare to say: if administrative organs can arbitrarily infringe on rights today, then tomorrow, one can't even imagine what they might do...

Therefore, this procedural illegality must lead to the entire act being illegal. This is the core issue!

At this moment, hearing the Presiding Judge's words, Zhou Yun spoke again, "There's one more point to add. Article 74 of the Administrative Litigation Law stipulates that if an administrative act has a minor procedural illegality but does not actually affect the plaintiff's rights, the People's Court shall rule the administrative act illegal but not revoke it."

"My side is merely requesting a ruling that the act is illegal. Alright, supplementary points completed."

Across from him, Wang Zhongda's face immediately changed. It was over...

The Presiding Judge looked at them and said, "Both parties... never mind, Court is now adjourned."

He had originally wanted to ask the parties if they had anything to add, but thinking about Chai Yaoyang's earlier words, he decided to cancel that part of the process.

The Court rarely announces judgments on the spot, and in fact, many cases nowadays don't even have a judgment announcement stage; they usually just notify you to pick up the judgment document directly.

If the judge is responsible, they might even give you a post-judgment Q&A session. If not, you just have to interpret it yourself. If you disagree, you appeal.

The Presiding Judge left with the others, and the Clerk also left after having both parties confirm and sign the trial transcript.

Zhou Yun was packing his things and chatting with Sun Chenhui, preparing to leave, when he stood up and found Chai Yaoyang already in front of him.

"What's wrong, Director Chai? You don't want me to leave?"

Chai Yaoyang didn't speak, but Lao Mingcheng on the side said, "Lawyer Zhou, it's just a lawsuit, there's no need to speak like that, is there?"

Zhou Yun heard this and put on a serious expression: "Huh? What did I do? Which of my words was wrong, which was problematic? If administrative organs don't take procedural law seriously, isn't that trampling on the law?"

When he said this, coupled with Zhou Yun's serious expression, Chai Yaoyang almost couldn't hold back again.

This was too much bullying!

Zhou Yun then added, "No choice, I love telling the truth."

Chai Yaoyang wanted to rush up and hit him, but he was held back by Lao Mingcheng.

"Fine, you talk now, just wait, this isn't over!"

Leaving a harsh threat, Chai Yaoyang was about to leave.

But Zhou Yun directly said, "Not over? Fine, I'm an orphan, I have nothing. I'll wait for you, I'll see how it's not over!"

When he said this, Chai Yaoyang froze, his face alternating between dark and red, but he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

Sun Chenhui, on the other hand, was sweating profusely beside him: "Lawyer Zhou, don't be like this, don't be like this, it's not necessary, really not necessary... It hasn't reached that point."

This was a clear declaration: I, who have nothing, am not afraid of you, who have everything. It was just short of a direct threat.

Wang Zhongda didn't dare to say a word beside them. Earlier, he thought Zhou Yun was putting on a show, which is a common type of lawyer nowadays, called an "acting lawyer."

They deliberately create conflict with the opposing party during a trial, arguing and slamming tables, to show their dedication.

Even if the case is lost, the client sees, "My lawyer even argued with the other side, so it's not his fault if we lost..."

And they can also gain a reputation, which is... a unique path to success, you could say.

But now he realized that this person seemed genuinely crazy. The lawsuit was over, and they were still bickering, and it had even escalated to the point of "physical reasoning."

Where did such a madman come from?

How much money are you making from this case to be risking your life like this?