Top court comes to defense of self-defense

People are allowed to fight back as justifiable self-defense when they find their personal freedoms violated or their residence illegally invaded, a guideline said on Thursday.

The guideline, which was jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security, aims to protect rights of good Samaritans and uphold justice by specifying the situations in which people's behaviors should be identified as justifiable self-defense.

People can also defend themselves by beating back both attackers and those who organize or instigate the attack in accordance with the guideline.

"Previously, some judicial authorities blurred the line between right and wrong, supporting the side only because it suffered injuries or deaths. But in fact, it was the side initiating attacks or it first harm others' legitimate rights," said Jiang Qibo, director of the SPC's research office.

Meanwhile, the justifiable self-defense was rarely identified in practice, as the judicial departments were too cautious in the application and the criteria were too strict, according to him.

He added the new legal document will contribute to preventing such problems and it also signals to the public that judicial authorities were determined to stand with justice.

Issues about self-defense have often been heatedly discussed among public and legal professionals in recent years, especially after a few cases happened.

In June 2017, for example, Shandong High People's Court reduced the life sentence given to Yu Huan, who was convicted of intentional injury, to five years for stabbing five debt collectors with a knife, which caused four injuries and one death, was identified as self-defense, but excessive.

In 2018, Yu Haiming, an electric bike rider in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, fought back against attacker Liu Hailong and stabbed him to death during a traffic dispute. After a thorough investigation, police and prosecutors determined the fatal stabbing of Yu was justifiable self-defense, adding he should be exempt from criminal liability.