"I just want to know where Cheng Chuxiao has gone. The trial is about to start."
The crowd pulled Qin Mu aside and started whispering among themselves. They had arrived early, and so had even sought out the two lawyers for a chat, aiming to probe the situation. However, these two lawyers... had not spoken a word to them.
After hearing their "intelligence," Qin Mu couldn’t help but look towards the defendant’s bench.
Only about ten minutes remained until the start of the trial. Everyone who needed to be present had already arrived. Even the public gallery was filled to capacity. However, from the defendant’s side, only two lawyers showed up. Even the party involved hadn’t made it to the scene.
Just then, the clerk entered the courtroom, beginning to verify attendance. He also noticed Cheng Chuxiao’s absence. He approached the two lawyers for the defendant and began his inquiry.
"This is the litigation power of attorney. Our client... had so urgent matters today, so for this session, we’ll be handling everything on her behalf."
Next to the defendant’s bench, Liu Chengqiang hurriedly took out a power of attorney that had been signed beforehand and handed it to the clerk. This power of attorney... authorized them to exercise Cheng Chuxiao’s civil rights in this civil case.
But after examining it, the clerk’s expression turned peculiar. He couldn’t help but ask, "The seventh-day morial? Are you sure?"
Every notification of absence required a written reason. And the reason written in Cheng Chuxiao’s justification for absence... was that it was Binbin’s seventh-day morial.
If he hadn’t already been familiar with this case... he would have genuinely believed Binbin was one of her deceased relatives. But in reality... Binbin was just a dog.
"Yes, our client is observing the seventh-day morial at ho," Liu Chengqiang said with a wry smile.
Regarding this reason... he too found it quite extraordinary.
Initially, Cheng Chuxiao was supposed to appear in court today. But last night, she suddenly ntioned it was Binbin’s seventh-day morial, requiring her to stay ho and not go out casually. With no other option, they had hastily processed this power of attorney. Therefore, only the two of them attended today’s hearing.
anwhile, Li Weiguo, Song Tiancheng, and others in the public gallery also heard the phrase "seventh-day morial." They couldn’t help but widen their eyes in astonishnt. Having lived to be seventy or eighty, this was the first ti they had ever heard of soone observing a seventh-day morial for a dog.
"Xiao Qin, the defendant is absent? Does that an we don’t have to fight this lawsuit anymore?"
"HISS! This dog’s treatnt is almost equal to a human’s, with soone observing a seventh-day morial for it. Isn’t Cheng Chuxiao just waiting for it to co back ho?"
"Isn’t this superstitious? Doesn’t the court care?"
"Shouldn’t we win by default? I recall when Mr. Li encountered that donation scam, the other party didn’t show up, and they just proceeded with the hearing."
...
The crowd turned, looking towards Qin Mu, appearing sowhat excited. After witnessing so many trials, they had encountered yet another case where the defendant was absent! In their view, the defendant’s absence ant they would win without a fight!
"Trial in absentia applies to private criminal prosecutions," Qin Mu corrected them. "This is a civil lawsuit, where the defendant has the right to entrust her civil litigation rights to her lawyers."
The previous case Mr. Li encountered... involved three families who had falsely accused him of donation fraud and were trying to extort him for donations. It had already constituted a criminal offense. Therefore, in that case, the absence of the other party warranted a trial in absentia.
However, civil cases are different. The party themselves may not be present, but as long as they have signed a power of attorney, their lawyers can exercise those rights on their behalf. It does not impact court proceedings in any way. The court will proceed as usual.
As for the reason for the defendant’s absence... that doesn’t matter. The court only requires the party to provide a reason; whether it’s legitimate or reasonable is irrelevant.
In fact, in legal precedents, many defendants in civil lawsuits have submitted all sorts of bizarre reasons for their absence to the court. So claid they were on Mars, so said they were in Africa and couldn’t make it back, so said they were in a bad mood and didn’t want to co, and so refused to attend because they found the judge’s Mandarin subpar... In summary, there have been all sorts of bizarre reasons.
In such civil lawsuits, the court is often helpless and must turn a blind eye.
Criminal litigation, however... possesses a degree of coercive power. In private prosecution cases, if the defendant doesn’t attend, it’s considered a trial in absentia. In public prosecution cases... the individuals have already been apprehended by the public security organs, so they don’t have the option to choose whether or not to attend.
"So that’s how it is? No wonder Cheng Chuxiao is so arrogant, daring to use that reason."
"Civil litigation is that lenient? What about the plaintiff? Can the plaintiff avoid attending too?"
"Xiao Qin, we’re counting on you this ti. Fight well and show them the strength of Jin City’s lawyers!"
"I don’t know why, but my left eyelid has been twitching all day. Could it an sothing good is about to happen?"
...
In the public gallery, Li Weiguo, Song Tiancheng, and the others chid in one after another, talking over each other. Their noisy chatter echoed through the courtroom.
Qin Mu shook his head with a helpless sigh and led Zhang Qingyuan and the others to the center of the courtroom, where they took their respective seats.
Qin Mu sat at the plaintiff’s counsel table. Zhang Qingyuan sat at the plaintiff’s table. Lin Gang and the others sat in the witness box.
「At the sa ti. Jin City, a villa district.」
Cheng Chuxiao sat at ho and turned on the television. She then cast the live broadcast of the courtroom proceedings onto the screen.
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