Experts back rejection of payout for death of daughter

Law professionals have backed a recent court ruling that rejected a couple's compensation request following the death of their daughter, saying it's important not to abuse the moral concept that "death outweighs anything else" in legal practice.

The experts highlighted the importance of upholding justice in the handling of each case, but said that did not mean justice must always stand on the side of the deceased.

The couple's demand that a scenic spot's management department compensate them for the death of their daughter was rejected by a court in East China's Jiangxi province recently.

On July 26 last year, a female college student surnamed Liu disappeared after entering the area around Longshou Cliff at the Lushan Mountain scenic area in Jiangxi. Her parents called police on Aug 6 to report her disappearance, and a woman's body was found about 60 meters below the cliff on Aug 10, China National Radio reported. She did not buy a ticket to the scenic spot, according to the report.

Based on DNA matching and forensic examinations, local police identified the deceased as Liu and excluded the possibility that she was killed, the report said.

The scenic spot management department coordinated a payment of some 40,000 yuan ($6,300) to Liu's parents from an insurance company, but they still took it to court, demanding it pay 900,000 yuan in compensation and alleging it failed to fulfill its safety obligations.

After an investigation and a trial, the court in Lushan rejected the plaintiffs' claim, ruling that the scenic spot's management department should not be held liable "as it had established warning signs and a 1.2-meter-high guardrail along the path to the cliff, which means it had fulfilled the safety obligations", Huang Da, the judge who heard the case, told the radio network.

With killing ruled out, Huang said it was likely that Liu, who was "traveling alone, had mild depression and had argued with her mother", had taken her own life, China National Radio reported.

The judge expressed his sadness for her death, but said, "The moral concept of 'death outweighs anything else' has been abused in legal practice for a long time, which has brought negative effects to the upholding of justice.

"Protecting rights or winning a lawsuit by improper or extreme means will only undermine fairness, justice and rule of law."

Ma Li, a Beijing civil lawyer, said she agreed with the ruling.

"Warning signs and guardrails at the scenic spot could prove its management department had provided sufficient measures to protect visitors' safety, or it wasn't at fault in the death of the student," Ma said.

"A verdict will be incorrect if judges stand on the side of the deceased without any legal basis. In case handling, it's unreasonable to blindly favor the party of the deceased, as such support will be unfair to the other party in the absence of a mistake and damage the course of justice."

Zhu Wei, an associate law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said the most important thing for judges when solving similar disputes is to figure out whether the scenic spot's management department has made a mistake or correctly performed its security duties.

He said the fact that tickets for the scenic spot included public liability insurance showed management was committed to meeting its legal obligations and its coordination of the payment from the insurance company showed it was sympathetic to the family's plight.