This has been proposed for years. Why hasn't the CCP just had it waived through the NPC?
I thought oh good, a quite reasonable post, until the last paragraph. You just can't resist. Can you?
This has been proposed for years. Why hasn't the CCP just had it waived through the NPC?
FYIThis has been proposed for years. Why hasn't the CCP just had it waived through the NPC?
Source: Xinhua
| 2017-10-08 20:22:57|Editor: Xiang Bo
GUANGZHOU, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Good Samaritan law went into effect on Oct. 1 to protect people who are ready to help others.
Under the legislation, people who voluntarily offer emergency assistance to those who are, or who they believe to be, injured, ill, in danger, or otherwise incapacitated, will not have civil liability in the event of harm to the victims.
It aims to ease the reluctance people feel toward helping strangers for fear of legal repercussions if they make mistakes in treatment.
The legislation responds to the phenomenon of people refraining from assisting fallen senior citizens over concerns of being blackmailed later, said Wang Cheng, professor at Peking University Law School.
The law will reduce bystanders' hesitation to assist, said Wang.
In 2011, a two-year-old girl was run over by two cars, and 18 passersby did not offer emergency help. The girl died later after days of medical treatment.
In 2014, a man from south China's Guangdong Province aided a senior citizen but was accused of knocking him down. The man committed suicide when faced with demands for compensation.
"If you don't provide help, you will blame yourself, but if you do help, you are likely to be hurt by the people you help. It is really a dilemma," said one comment on China's microblog Sina Weibo.
These disputes have sparked debate about morality and heroism in the country in recent years.
"There is no need to discuss whether or not you should aid people in distress. Your help is a matter of life or death for the person who is injured," said Wang.
If a code of conduct is not enough to prevent unethical behavior, it is time for the law to address it, said Liu Jiehui, a judge with the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City in Guangdong.
In 2012, China's State Council published a paper outlining ideas to help protect Good Samaritans that would provide preferential polices in employment and other fields.
Although there had been calls for a national Good Samaritan law, only a few cities pushed ahead with such legislation before the nationwide law came into effect.
In 2013, Shenzhen said anyone who wants to claim compensation needs to collect evidence first.
Shanghai in 2016 enacted a policy that protects the public from liability during rescues and rescue attempts.
The national Good Samaritan law underwent three amendments from December 2016 to March 2017 before it was introduced in October.
The nationwide Good Samaritan law will help create a better social atmosphere for helping others, said Liu.
Some experts are concerned that there will be some danger from a nationwide Good Samaritan law.
"Rescuers who know little about medical treatment could bring serious harm to people in critical condition," said Yang Lixin, a professor with the Renmin University of China.
He hoped the government could introduce details of the policy soon while encouraging people to voluntarily offer assistance.
There is a good chance now, but of course, the mentality will still be there due to decades of not having this law. Plus, it all comes down to the enforcement of the law which is something the current government (from county to central) is working on.That's a good point JsCh. I think I may have heard about that at the time but obviously completely forgot about it. Does this mean we can all agree there is now no reason for people not to assist for fear of being sued?
There is a good chance now, but of course, the mentality will still be there due to decades of not having this law. Plus, it all comes down to the enforcement of the law which is something the current government (from county to central) is working on.
Even legally you have no liability, it doesn't prevent people from camping outside your workplace and demanding compensation until either you pay them or your boss finally has had it enough and fire you.
Ah true true. However, now that you mention judges, it all comes down to the judges' integrity and honesty that, in the West, is kept in check by various agencies of their governments. In China, based on what I have heard, backdoor dealings happen a lot. While that does happen in the West too, it isn't as blatant and will be swiftly dealt with. The Chinese government sucks at that to be honest. As for the government programs and awareness, while they can bring awareness to that law, the probability of people willingly being good samaritans ultimately depends on the people's trust in the judges' interpretations being unbiased, and the trust comes from how well enforced and fair the laws are.I mean it's not really an issue of enforcement, because it's a law designed to remove liability. It should be a relatively simple step to notify judges of the change in the law given control of the judiciary in (mainland) China is fairly tight.
I'd also be a bit puzzled if it took decades to get people to change their habits. The government could spread information about the new law via any of its public education programmes. The only reason I can think of would be if Chinese people aren't going to help for reasons other than a fear of being sued, e.g. a general suspicion of strangers that would need to be corrected from school age up.
Wouldn't that be xunxin zishi (picking quarrels and making trouble)? Surely an easy thing for the Chinese police to sort out.
I hate to break it to you, but in a lot of countries the schools give free swimming classes. I had years of lessons in what you'd refer to as elementary school. Maybe China should put more money into education and community sports centres.
Because it was a 60+ year old diplomat, i.e. the last person someone would expect to have jumped in. I don't know if you think a Chinese diplomat of his age would have been casually walking around the UK and jumped in with barely a moment's thought, but my guess it would be unthinkable to most Chinese netizens given how Chinese diplomats and high-level politicians act.
This has been proposed for years. Why hasn't the CCP just had it waived through the NPC?
Can you be more mature?