Luo Dan

In September 2015, a certain construction group filed a lawsuit with the People’s Court of Shenhe District in Shenyang City, claiming that You Moumou and a certain newspaper company had infringed upon its right to reputation. The group requested the court to order both defendants to publish a public apology and pay it compensation for emotional distress in the amount of 300,000 yuan. As the agent for the newspaper company, this attorney, upon receiving the case, immediately conducted a detailed investigation into the news reports involved, interviewed reporters who covered the story, and gathered relevant evidence.

Case details

The claim brought by a certain Construction Group concerns a news report on anti-corruption efforts published in the A Evening News. The report provides a detailed account of the career history of the fallen official, Chen Moumou, as well as the entire process through which he was investigated and prosecuted by judicial authorities for violating laws and discipline. Through interviews and investigations conducted with various parties, our reporter learned that Chen Moumou was brought to justice following a real-name complaint filed by another individual. The defendant No. 2 in this case, You Moumou, is precisely the whistleblower. The primary reason You Moumou reported Chen Moumou was that, although Chen Moumou had left his position as general manager of the Construction Group some time ago, he still maintained financial and vested interests with the Group. In a previous dispute over a construction contract between You Moumou and the Construction Group, Chen Moumou allegedly used his official position to interfere in the case. It was on this basis that You Moumou decided to file the complaint against Chen Moumou.

The case was publicly heard on May 4, 2016, at the People's Court of Shenhe District in Shenyang City. During the trial, both parties primarily presented evidence and engaged in debate regarding whether the news report in this case contained fabricated facts and whether the report had infringed upon the reputation rights of a certain construction group.

Judgment: In the first-instance trial, the court ruled in accordance with the law to dismiss all claims brought by [Name of Construction Group]. Subsequently, [Name of Construction Group] filed an appeal with the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court. After a second-instance hearing, the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court ultimately ruled to dismiss [Name of Construction Group]'s appeal and uphold the original judgment.

Case details

In this case, the news report at issue is an anti-corruption article that primarily focuses on the career history of the fallen official, Mr. Chen, as well as the reasons and details behind his judicial investigation and prosecution. Given the significant social impact of this news report, in handling this case, my client has conducted a comprehensive and meticulous analysis of the entire content of the news report, as well as of the evidence presented and arguments made by both parties during the trial.

Based on this attorney’s analysis of the entire article and the evidence presented by both parties during the trial, the news report in question is merely a routine piece of anti-corruption journalism. As for the mention in the report of the construction contract dispute involving a certain Construction Group, the reason is that when You Mou filed a real-name complaint against Chen Mou, his letter explicitly stated that You Mou believed Chen Mou had engaged in illegal and disciplinary violations precisely because Chen Mou had interfered with the case involving the Construction Group. Therefore, the A Evening News merely provided a factual account of the events; it did not offer any evaluative commentary on whether Chen Mou had indeed interfered with the case. Consequently, the content of the report is truthful and objective. In accordance with Article 140, Paragraph 2 of the “Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the General Principles of Civil Law” and Question No. 9 of the “Interpretation by the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Adjudication of Cases Involving Right to Reputation,” among other relevant provisions, the reported content in this case does not constitute an infringement.

Considering the case as a whole, as the attorney representing the newspaper, the most crucial task is to analyze the sources of the entire news report and the factual basis underlying the report. During the verification process, I thoroughly integrated all the content of the news report and conducted a comprehensive analysis and compilation of its sources and supporting evidence. In this process, I carried out a detailed investigation into the factual sequence of events and the court’s ruling in the dispute between the某某 Construction Group and You某某 regarding the construction contract, and obtained relevant legal documents to substantiate these findings. However, as for whether Chen某某 interfered in the construction contract dispute, it would require access to the trial records and legal documents pertaining to Chen某某’s case to determine the truth. Unfortunately, all materials related to Chen某某’s case are classified as confidential and thus unavailable to us. Finally, upon further analysis of the news report’s content, I found that although the report does describe the dispute between the某某 Construction Group and You某某 over the construction contract, it does not include any evaluative language regarding whether Chen某某 intervened in the progress of the case. The report merely presents the facts of the case in a descriptive manner, and every statement made in the report is supported by relevant court rulings and other documentary evidence. Additionally, I obtained the complaint letter submitted by You某某 to the relevant authorities, in which You某某 explicitly stated the reasons for his complaint against Chen某某 and expressed his firm conviction that Chen某某 had abused his official position to interfere in the construction contract dispute between You某某 and the某某 Construction Group. Therefore, the news report in question is nothing more than a straightforward factual account of the aforementioned events, devoid of any evaluative language, and all statements made therein are fully supported by credible evidence. Consequently, the claim by the某某 Construction Group that the news report has infringed upon its right to reputation lacks both factual and legal basis.