Legal professionals have lauded the raising of compensation standards for mental anguish suffered by people whose personal liberty has been damaged, such as those wrongfully detained and convicted, hailing the move as a contribution to further upholding justice and strengthening human rights protection.
Previously, mental anguish compensation was not supposed to exceed 35 percent of the compensation a person received for having their personal liberty undermined, but a judicial interpretation issued by the Supreme People's Court on Thursday raised that cap to 50 percent.
Previously, mental anguish compensation was not supposed to exceed 35 percent of the compensation a person received for having their personal liberty undermined, but a judicial interpretation issued by the Supreme People's Court on Thursday raised that cap to 50 percent
The interpretation also listed a few "extremely serious" conditions that could see people whose personal rights are damaged obtain more than 50 percent of their compensation for mental anguish.
For example, people who are wrongfully detained for more than 10 years, or have severe injuries or mental disabilities or even die during wrongful detention can be classified as "extremely serious" conditions, according to the interpretation of the mental suffering articles in the State Compensation Law.
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"Raising the standard of compensation for mental suffering and specifying the conditions is not only progress in protecting human rights by rule of law, but also a practical guideline for judges when handling relevant compensation applications," said Ruan Chuansheng, a law professor at the Shanghai Administration Institute.
He had long called for China's top court to set different levels for mental compensation, "as the mental damage for those with a decadelong wrongful detention was usually bigger than people wrongfully detained for less than five years".
"It's good to see that the new interpretation gives an answer to my concerns," he said, adding that justice will be upheld in a more humane manner this way.
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Wang Zhenyu, deputy director of the top court's compensation office, said when explaining the interpretation at a news conference on Thursday that the move will enhance people's sense of justice when applying for mental anguish compensation.
He added that the interpretation was made to implement the Constitution, which highlights the protection and respect of human rights.
While stipulating that the seriousness of conditions relates directly to the amount of mental anguish compensation, the interpretation also requires courts to take into consideration several other factors, including local social development, the applicant's occupation, the means of infringement and the process of correcting miscarriages of justice, when determining how much money should be paid for mental anguish.
Luo Jinshou, a lawyer from Jiangxi province who has handled several State compensation cases, said the interpretation, which will take effect on April 1, will alleviate secondary damage caused by wide variations in payouts nationwide.
"But what we have done is still not enough," he said, suggesting the country increase the national standard for wrongful detention, because it was the foundation of mental anguish compensation.
Someone can be given 346.75 yuan (US$53) for each day of lost personal liberty or wrongful detention in line with the latest compensation standard released by the top court in May 2020. The amount is updated every year. In 2019, it was around 315 yuan.