Chapter 18: What Exactly Are You Trying to Do?! |
"Lawyer Lin, I must emphasize this once again."
Xu De wore a solemn expression, his eyes filled with earnestness. He spoke in a low, serious tone.
"I never... engage in illegal or criminal activities!"
Lin Yue raised a delicate eyebrow, putting her hands on her hips in confusion.
"So... you aren''t going to steal the child anymore?"
The moment her words fell, Xu De immediately voiced his rebuttal, expressing his dissatisfaction.
"How is that possible? I definitely have to steal the child. Never mind stealing."
"If I get pushed to the brink, I might even rob them!"
Saying this, Xu De turned around and walked back into the reception room. He plopped down on the sofa, looked at her, and continued.
Did that even need an explanation? Was that not just common sense?!
Lin Yue grumbled endlessly in her mind but still managed to rein in her emotions.
She took a seat opposite Xu De, gathered her thoughts for a moment, and then slowly spoke.
"Dongguo does not have a specific law for the ''Crime of Stealing a Child.'' Instead, it categorizes it into two offenses: Article 240 of the Criminal Law, the Crime of Child Abduction and Trafficking, and Article 262, the Crime of Swindling and Abducting a Child."
"Both of these laws are inextricably linked to stealing a child, and they carry heavy penalties!"
"And your actions completely constitute these two criminal charges."
What she said was indeed the truth.
However...
"You''re right, but..."
Hearing this, Xu De first nodded, then offered a gentle smile before smoothly speaking.
"What is the core subjective factor for convicting someone of the Crime of Child Abduction and Trafficking?"
Without waiting for her to answer, he directly spat out the answer.
"It''s intent plus profit!"
That meant subjective intent and doing it for monetary gain. Only when both of these elements existed simultaneously would an act be judged as the Crime of Child Abduction and Trafficking!
Xu De wasn''t stealing the child for money, so theoretically, his actions could not constitute this crime.
"But even so, it still involves Article 262 of the Criminal Law, the Crime of Swindling and Abducting a Child!"
Lin Yue shook her head, her tone resolute.
True, he wasn''t selling the child for profit, but he was intentionally taking control and taking the child away!
That perfectly matched the criteria for this charge.
"Lawyer Lin''s professional knowledge is quite strong."
Xu De didn''t deny it, nodding in agreement.
But then, his tone suddenly shifted.
"However..."
"What you mentioned is the so-called subjective aspect in criminal law."
"What about the objective aspect? May I ask..."
"In the original text of the Criminal Law, what is the objective definition that constitutes this offense?"
Lin Yue paused. Her extremely high legal literacy caused the original text to instantly surface in her mind, and she blurted it out subconsciously.
"Article 262, the original text explicitly defines it objectively: Abducting a minor under the age of fourteen, causing them to be separated from their family or guardians."
If it involved profit, it was trafficking; if it didn''t involve profit, it was abduction.
Xu De''s version of stealing a child... was practically acting out the exact objective definition of the crime.
But!
Just as Lin Yue finished speaking.
"Lawyer Lin, you said it yourself."
"Objectively, tricking a child into leaving their family or guardian constitutes abduction, but..."
Xu De''s voice seamlessly picked up where she left off. His eyes suddenly turned sharp as he stated.
"Are Li Youcai and Liu Cui the child''s guardians?!"
"Nat..."
Lin Yue was just about to nod, but in a daze, she abruptly paused, freezing up as if she had realized something.
Seeing her reaction, Xu De spoke slowly.
"They are not!"
"According to Article 27 of the Civil Code, which is the core law concerning guardianship."
"The parents are the child''s guardians!"
"And close relatives like Li Youcai and Liu Cui are merely the first-in-line personnel for guardianship. Notice, they are ''in line''!"
In other words.
Only if both the child''s parents were dead could they fight for the child''s guardianship, and only with guardianship could they think about keeping the child.
But the problem was...
The only person who died was Li Erniu. Wang Mei was still alive!
Therefore, currently, there was only one person who held the right of guardianship.
"And that is the client, Wang Mei!"
Xu De spoke extremely fast, his words firm and decisive, and he continued.
"Lawyer Lin, now looking back at the objective definition of the crime of abduction in the criminal law, do you still think... I am breaking the law?"
The moment those words were spoken.
Lin Yue was instantly stunned. Her brain began working in overdrive, plunging into a storm of thoughts.
The objective definition of the crime was: causing the child to be separated from their family/guardian, yet the defendants were not the guardians.
The most crucial point was...
"Lawyer Lin, do not forget, the custody case is already over."
"Wang Mei won the case!"
Xu De suddenly lowered his gaze, leaned forward, and looked at her with a deep voice.
"In other words..."
"Li Youcai has neither the right to custody nor is he the guardian."
"Legally, his act of keeping the child for himself is inherently an illegal act!"
Suddenly.
These words exploded in Lin Yue''s mind, and her pupils shrank slightly.
What he said seemed... actually... appeared to be... correct!
Without custody or guardianship rights, in the eyes of the law, Li Youcai was a complete stranger to the child.
And right now, a ''stranger'' was forcibly keeping the child by his side... just thinking about it felt wrong.
A long time passed.
Only then did she recover, hesitantly replying.
"But... but there is still the phrase ''separated from the family'' before that. Li Youcai''s status as a blood-related close family member is undeniable..."
Even if he had no rights, the law could hardly ignore the bond of blood.
Xu De immediately shot back.
"First, I have no subjective malice in taking the child away."
"Second, Li Youcai''s home is a home, but does my client Wang Mei''s home not count as the child''s home?!"
As he spoke.
Xu De''s eyes widened. He looked at the shrinking Lin Yue, his face full of exasperation, shaking his head and wishing she would catch on.
"I am merely taking the child from a ''residence'' that has no custody rights and is not the guardian..."
"And bringing him to another home that has custody rights and guardianship."
"Legally, I have not separated him from his family!"
At this moment.
Lin Yue froze in place, all the rebuttals in her mind melting away like butter.
Common sense told her it was illegal, but her professional knowledge told her...
It was legal!
"This is not called abduction; this is called exercising guardianship."
A smile appeared on Xu De''s face. He sat on the sofa, interlaced his hands on the table, and leaned slightly forward.
He murmured.
"You know."
"Nobody understands breaking the law better than I do!"
Although it looked somewhat arrogant and sounded shocking, anyone who heard it would only be able to stare in helpless silence!
After figuring this out.
Lin Yue only felt her entire heart trembling. The look in her eyes as she stared at Xu De was already filled with disbelief and shock.
She had lived for over twenty years.
She had met legal luminaries, listened to expert lectures, graduated from a top national university, and was taught by renowned professors.
Yet, despite having such a background.
This was the very first time she had ever heard of legally stealing a child!
The key was that he wasn''t even making things up!!!
Lin Yue''s eyes widened, her delicate lips parted slightly as she voiced a question from the depths of her soul.
"Is... is this right?!"
"What''s wrong with it?" Xu De said.
"Besides, the child''s custody case has already been decided. Wang Mei won the first instance, and the court demanded immediate execution."
"But Li Youcai and his wife have been dragging their feet and refusing to hand over the person!"
Xu De waved his hand dismissively, his face showing great dissatisfaction. At this moment, his tone was filled with anger.
"Strictly speaking."
"We are legally stealing the child with good intentions."
"They are the ones maliciously and illegally getting stolen from!"
The moment that sentence came out.
Lin Yue felt as if her soul had been elevated. The wrinkles in her brain had been smoothly ironed out by him, and a brand-new door opened before her.
So, words could actually be arranged like this...
Was this really something a human could come up with?!
Looking at her expression.
Xu De showed a relieved look, feeling that she was finally a teachable student.
"Do you still think I am committing a crime now?" he asked.
Lin Yue''s lips moved, but she could not force out a single word of denial.
A crime?
Even if these arguments were brought to a court hearing, the judge and prosecutor would at most be collectively dumbfounded.
Whoever came wouldn''t be able to pick out a single word that meant ''illegal''!
"You..."
Lin Yue looked at Xu De''s calm and composed face. She didn''t know what to say, her face flushing slightly red.
After a long while, she finally spat out a sentence.
"So... when are you planning to go steal the child?"
Since it wasn''t illegal, she instead began to worry about the upcoming first-instance trial.
Lin Yue gripped the chair, a hint of anxiety showing on her face as she said.
"You should know that the first instance is coming up."
"If you do not steal the child back before the trial, then the first instance... is going to be very precarious."
Just now at the door, she had very clearly and accidentally heard that the court had already sent the summons.
The trial would begin in five days, on November 10th. If Xu De didn''t take action soon... he might lose the case.
However.
Just as Lin Yue was wondering whether he would catch them off guard today, tomorrow, or the day after...
"Steal the child before the trial?"
Xu De raised an eyebrow, revealing a puzzled expression, and spread his hands.
"When did I ever say I was going to steal him before the trial?"
Lin Yue: ?
"If you don''t steal him before the trial, and you wait until the trial adjourns and the court''s ruling comes down, what is the point of stealing the child then?!"
Lin Yue''s face once again showed bewilderment.
The court hearing was the place where both sides would clash and get a result!
Stealing the child was supposed to be a bargaining chip to increase their chances of victory. If he waited until after the result to steal... what use would that chip have?!
"Naturally, we use something else as a substitute," Xu De replied as a matter of course.
"You must remember, the child is a chip we use to leverage the plaintiffs, Li Youcai and his wife."
"This chip has nothing to do with the trial''s legal arguments!"
"To deal with the judge and the prosecutor, we... have to bring out some new tricks."
Lin Yue stared blankly at the somewhat unfamiliar man before her.
She watched as Xu De took out a document he had written from his briefcase and placed it on the table.
"You don''t think I''ve been busy these past few days with just those things that can be described in a few words, do you?"
"This is what I am going to use for the first instance!"
With that said.
He extended his arm, pushing the document under his palm in front of her.
Filled with curiosity, Lin Yue cast her questioning eyes on the document.
But when she clearly saw the contents, her entire body instantly stiffened.
She saw.
There were a few lines of text clearly written on the document...
[1. Regarding the defendant Wang Qiang''s defensive actions taken to stop a human trafficker and protect a police officer, which possessed the nature of acting bravely for a just cause. Now, concerning the facts of this case and the application of the law, our side presents the following defense opinion...]
[2. Regarding the deceased Li Erniu, who, due to attempted intentional homicide, brought about his own death through self-harm, which has no connection to the defendant. Our side presents the following defense opinion...]
Looking at these words.
Lin Yue''s eyes widened massively, her mouth dropping open into an ''O'' shape, her brain completely chaotic and sluggish.
Words had weight.
Lin Yue clearly felt the weight of those words right at this moment.
The few lines of text seemed to transform into a one-ton iron hammer, smashing ruthlessly onto her head!
The trial was in five days. If this thing really appeared in court, the judge and prosecutor...
It would be hard to say whether they would whip them with their belts!
"No..."
Lin Yue looked up at Xu De, her eyes filled with utter astonishment. Her fair throat bobbed as her delicate lips parted.
The next second, a trembling voice filled with a mental breakdown echoed in the reception room.
"What do you mean Wang Qiang''s actions constitute a self-surrender?!"
"And what do you mean he was acting bravely for a just cause to protect an armed police officer?!"
"What exactly are you trying to do?!"