Self-defense is more than just a 'zombie right'

ON SATURDAY, Shandong Provincial High People's Court began a retrial of Yu Huan, a 21-year-old man from Liaocheng, Shandong province, who killed a man when he stabbed four "debt collectors" who were trying to recover money his mother owed. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

The court has not yet made its ruling. However, the Supreme People's Procuratorate posted a statement on Sunday, saying that the first trial was wrong because Yu's actions were in essence self-defense, although they were obviously excessive.

The statement by the Supreme People's Procuratorate received a warm welcome nationwide because although the law allows any citizen to act in self-defense, in practice the legal code for self-defense leaves little room for what people can do to protect themselves. The line is also blurred between self-defense and the use of excessive force. Some law scholars have even joked that the legal code for self-defense has become a "zombie code" that is not applicable in practice.