Dongfang Siyi looked at the wall clock, there were still ten minutes to leave the court, he changed into a black robe, habitually stroked the emblem embroidered on his chest, and raised his hand to check the golden gears and ears of wheat on the cuffs and collar, feeling that his mind had been completely immersed in a specific sacred duty.

In the courtroom, clerk Xu Ming checked the identities of both parties in accordance with the provisions of the procedure: "Plaintiff, your name, age, occupation, ethnicity, culture, address?" Please show your identification. ”

The plaintiff's bench was a young woman with a light make-up on her face and dark green fur against her fair skin, who would have thought she was defending or giving a speech on some podium if she hadn't appeared in the plaintiff's bench in the courtroom. She looked at the entrusted agent sitting next to her and replied: "My name is Wei Qin, 39 years old, Han nationality, university culture, freelance, living in Building 58, Area A, Hushu Villa, this is my ID card." The bailiff on duty took Wei Qin's ID card and handed it to Xu Ming for inspection, and then handed it back to the party.

The entrusted agent beside her was a young lawyer, who cleared his throat after taking the microphone and said: "I am the plaintiff's entrusted agent, and the lawyer of the civil and commercial law firm is profiteering, this is my lawyer's certificate and the party's power of attorney, please take a look." ”

After Xu Ming took the lawyer's certificate and the client's power of attorney for inspection, he then began to ask the defendant: "Defendant, your name, age, occupation, ethnicity, culture, and address?" Please show your identification. ”

The middle-aged man in the dock was short and stocky, and the Armani suit he wore on his body was pulled across his bulging belly. The lawyer he hired was the director of two local law firms, which, because of their business competition, usually had little private contact except for verbal arguments in court. Now for a divorce case, he lowered his value and appeared in court for a party together, which is a precedent that has never appeared, and it is conceivable that the defendant must have spent a lot of money, which also shows that the defendant is a role that cannot be ignored.

The defendant raised his eyes and looked at Xu Ming, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he deliberately raised his voice and replied: "You, a young man, may not know that my surname is Zhang, the chapter of the official seal, the name of the power, and the right of power." Do not change your surname, and do not change your name. 51 years old this year, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, vice president of the County Federation of Industry and Commerce, entrepreneur, lives in Building 58, Area A, Hushu Villa, this is my ID card. ”

Xu Ming looked at Zhang Daquan's ID card and reminded: "You just need to say what you are engaged in, your political appearance and status have nothing to do with this case." ”

Zhang Daquan said very unhappily: "Didn't your court keep saying that you want to protect the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs? I'll tell you now, I'm a well-known entrepreneur in the region, and one of your salary income comes from my tax contribution, why can't I say that? Is there anything wrong with saying it? ”

Xu Ming looked at Zhang Daquan and explained solemnly: "This is the court, everyone is equal before the law, and what we want to protect is the legitimate rights and interests of all parties." In court, there are no special parties. I want you to respect others and also respect yourself, and to respect others is to respect yourself. ”

Zhang Daquan had never encountered the scene of being choked in front of him, his face was blue with anger, and he was about to say something more, but the two entrusted agents sitting next to him stopped him in time. Zhang Daquan closed his mouth a little stupidly, and fiddled with a thick gold bracelet in his hand.

The defendant's two lawyers successively answered the clerk's questioning, one was Director Wang Fei of the Dashang Law Firm, and the other was Director Min Yang of the Tonghai Law Firm, both of whom presented their lawyer qualification certificates and the parties' power of attorney in accordance with the regulations.

Passing through the quiet judge's passage, the moment Dongfang Siyi and the two people's assessors entered the courtroom, clerk Xu Ming raised his head and looked at the people in the courtroom and announced: "All stand up, please the chief judge and the people's assessors enter the courtroom!" ”

Although the divorce case was not heard in public, both parties dispatched a group of relatives and friends, and there were 30 or 40 people sitting in the courtroom. After taking a seat on the trial table, Dongfang Siyi glanced at the parties and the observers in the courtroom and then motioned, "Please sit down." ”

Clerk Xu Ming stood up and turned to Dongfang Siyi and reported: "Presiding judge, all preparations before the trial are ready, please ask the presiding judge to preside over the trial." ”

Dongfang Siyi asked: "Do the parties on both sides have any objections to the identity of the other party appearing in court?" "Both the plaintiff and the defendant indicated that they had no objection." After review, it is found that the plaintiff and defendant's appearance in court comply with the provisions of law and may participate in the trial activities of this case. ”

Dongfang Siyi confirmed the legal identities of both parties, and after a brief exchange with the two people's assessors to confirm that the next step of the procedure could be carried out, he immediately picked up the gavel placed on the front of his right hand and knocked it gently: "Now the court is open, in accordance with the provisions of Article 120 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the divorce dispute between the plaintiff and the defendant will be tried here in closed court today in accordance with the law." The following is an introduction to the members of the collegial panel in this case. In this case, adjudicator Dongfang Siyi (i.e., himself) served as the presiding judge and presided over the trial, and a collegial panel was formed with people's assessors Cheng Jingru (staff of the Municipal Women's Federation) and Xiang Xiuli (social worker) to hear the case. ”

Dongfang Siyi looked left and right at the parties: "Regarding the litigation rights and obligations of the parties, the parties have been informed in writing in the Notice of Acceptance of the Case sent by this court, the Notice of Response to the Lawsuit sent to the defendant, the Notice of Presentation of Evidence and the Litigation Rights and Obligations of the Parties, and this court will not read them out again. If the parties believe that adjudicators, clerks, and so forth have an interest in the case or have other relationships that might affect the fairness of the trial, they have the right to apply for the recusal of the above-mentioned persons. If an application for recusal is filed, the reasons for the request for recusal must be stated. ”

The plaintiff raised his hand to signal that he wanted to speak, and after receiving Dongfang Siyi's permission, the plaintiff Wei Qin held the microphone and said: "I apply for the recusal of the two people's assessors for the following reasons: People's assessor Cheng Jingru, as a staff member of the Women's Federation, has repeatedly visited the defendant's Jinyoulai Recycling Company to conduct fundraising activities and accepted the banquet of the defendant Zhang Daquan, and the people's assessor Xiang Xiuli has also participated in the relevant social charity activities carried out by the defendant company and participated in the banquet activities of the defendant company. I am skeptical that they will be able to be fair and impartial in the course of this case. Therefore, I formally apply to the court for the recusal of two people's assessors from participating in the trial of this case. ”

The plaintiff's attorney raised his hand to speak, and after receiving Dongfang Siyi's permission, he showed several photos in his hand and said: "This is the relevant evidence provided by the plaintiff, and these photos have the records of the activities just mentioned by the plaintiff, including the scene where the defendant toasts the two people's assessors at the banquet. It is now submitted to the Tribunal. Therefore, in order to ensure that this case can be handled fairly and justly, in accordance with Article 2, Paragraph (4) of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Implementation of the Recusal System by Adjudicators in Litigation Activities (Fa Shi [2011] No. 12), the parties and their legal representatives found that the adjudicators had violated the provisions. Those who accept banquets from the parties to the case and their trustees, or participate in various activities for which they pay for expenses, have the right to apply for their recusal. Therefore, the plaintiff applied to the court for the recusal of two people's assessors from the collegial panel. ”

There was a commotion in the auditorium, and the plaintiff's relatives and friends began to discuss: "I ate someone's soft mouth, and I took someone's soft hand." These two people have eaten other people's food, can they wipe their faces ruthlessly? It's simply impossible. ”

Dongfang Siyi stopped: "Observers, please keep quiet, do not make noise, if you violate the discipline of the court, the bailiff can take them away from the courtroom." Those who seriously violate court discipline and disrupt court order will be punished by law. The auditorium fell silent, and Dongfang Siyi took the evidence of the plaintiff submitted by the bailiff on duty, and after reading it, passed it to the two people's assessors, who were silent after reading it.

After Dongfang Siyi put the relevant evidence into the file, he asked the defendant: "Defendant Zhang Daquan, the plaintiff just submitted an application to request the recusal of the two people's assessors of the collegial panel in this case, what is the defendant's opinion?" ”

The defendant Zhang Daquan wanted to speak several times, but was stopped by the two lawyers he had hired, and when he saw the judge asking him, he could no longer hold back: "The plaintiff's reason is completely untenable, according to the reason she said, the county magistrate can't be the county magistrate if he eats my food, and the director can't be the magistrate after eating my food." I have also remembered that there are many guests invited to the banquet by Zhang Daquan, so you can make this article based on the fact that they have eaten my meal? Before you married me, weren't you happy to be part of my dinner as a TV host? Why is it that if you can eat mine, no one else can eat it? If you eat my food, you will be fine, but if someone else eats, it will be unfair and unjust! I am categorically against it! ”

There was another commotion in the auditorium, and a man sitting in the back row of the auditorium looked at the plaintiff Wei Qin with a smile and said: "Sister-in-law, are you the only one who is not bad in King Kong, and if you eat someone else's food, you will be fine, and if someone else eats it, you will have diarrhea?" "There is almost no difference between this person and the defendant Zhang Daquan's face, but he is more than ten years younger than Zhang Daquan, and he is obviously the defendant's younger brother.

Wei Qin looked at Zhang Daquan with a red face and said, "I admit that I have eaten a lot of your Zhang Daquan's meals before, and it is because of this that I married you by mistake." I still regret it, after eating your food, I fell into the trap you set and ruined my innocence. I'm finally learning now that there is no pie in the sky and that there is no such thing as a free lunch. This is my pain, and I believe that your ill-intentioned meals will make many people regret it. ”

Zhang Daquan turned his head and said disdainfully: "I want to achieve my goal, there are many ways, there is no need to invite guests to dinner, you should neither look down on me, nor look down on others." You look down on yourself, I don't have a single opinion. I warn you not to spew blood, or I will have something worse to say in public. ”

Wei Qin looked at the man in front of her who was easily provoked, and her five years of married life experience told her that if this man played a scoundrel in public, she really had no way to deal with him.

Dongfang Siyi once again admonished and reminded: "Without permission, observers are no longer allowed to speak at will, and all parties should pay attention to their own words." After the courtroom was completely quiet, he continued to ask: "Defendant Zhang Daquan, have you applied for the recusal of the collegial panel in this case?" If you apply for recusal, please provide reasons and evidence. ”

Defendant Zhang Daquan was just about to speak, but was stopped by two entrusted agents, Wang Fei, the chief lawyer of Dashang Law Firm, raised his hand to speak, and after getting Dongfang Siyi's permission, lawyer Wang Fei looked at Dongfang Siyi and said euphemistically: "We were entrusted by the defendant Zhang Daquan to conduct a preliminary investigation on some issues related to this case, and learned that the plaintiff's entrusted agent, a lawyer from the Civil and Commercial Law Firm Mou Qili, is a graduate student of the Department of Sociology of University A, and his tutor is Professor Ai Qin of the Department of Sociology of the university. Through our investigation, we also learned that Professor Aichen is the wife of Judge Dongfang Siyi, who is the presiding judge of this case. ”

After lawyer Wang Fei said this, he looked at Min Yang, the director of Tonghai Law Firm, another entrusted agent, lawyer Min Yang raised his hand knowingly to speak, and after getting Dongfang Siyi's permission, he looked at Dongfang Siyi and said: "We also learned that lawyer Mou Qili is in love with a young girl. The girl's name is Dongfang Chuchu, and further investigation learned that Dongfang Chuchu is the daughter of Judge Dongfang Siyi, the presiding judge of this case. ”

Lawyer Mou Qili was obviously a little annoyed, and raised his hand several times, and after getting Dongfang Siyi's permission, he protested to the defendant's two authorized agents: "You have no right to investigate my privacy, and I reserve the right to sue you for violating my privacy." This behavior of yours is illegal and immoral. ”

Lawyer Wang Fei argued: "We are not investigating your privacy, but investigating that you and the members of the collegial panel in this case have circumstances that cannot be legally recused, and we have not violated your right to privacy." We are only investigating whether you have some kind of interest in the composition of the collegial panel in this case, and whether you have the circumstances that should be recused as stipulated by laws, regulations, and judicial interpretations of the Supreme Court. As a peer, I can only feel sorry, but this is a matter of fact. I am sorry, but in order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the entrusted parties, we have to do our due diligence. ”

Lawyer Min Yang raised his hand to speak, and after receiving permission from Dongfang Siyi, he said: "Dear presiding judge, according to Article 1 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Implementation of the Recusal System for Adjudicators in Litigation Activities (Fa Shi [2011] No. 12), 'If a adjudicator has any of the following circumstances, he shall recuse himself, and the parties and their legal representatives have the right to apply for their recusal orally or in writing', and item (5) of which 'there are other interests between the parties in this case, might impact the fair trial of the case. In our opinion, although the lawyer Mou Qili, who was appointed by the other party, has no kinship with Judge Dongfang Siyi, the presiding judge of this case, does he have other interests? This is a doubt that cannot be ruled out, and we cannot prevent the opposing party from choosing to appoint an agent on its own, and we can only raise reasonable doubts about the negative factors that may affect the case. We know that there is no sufficient reason or basis for filing an application for the recusal of Judge Dongfang Siyi, the presiding judge of this case. Therefore, in order to ensure that this case can be handled fairly and justly, we hope that Judge Dongfang Siyi will recuse himself from serving as the presiding judge of this case. This is the official opinion of the defense, and I hope it will attract the attention of the collegial panel in this case. ”

After a brief exchange with the two people's assessors of the collegial panel, Dongfang Siyi once again announced: "Since the parties to this case have applied for the recusal of the members of the collegial panel to recuse themselves from participating in the trial of this case, in accordance with the provisions of Article 47 of the Civil Procedure Law, this court will make a decision on the recusal application after reporting to the court president." The court is now adjourned. ”

(Next Preview: Chapter 49: The Bottom Line of Love and Law)