Cases
Hylands Successfully Defend the Suspected Crime of Endangering Precious and Endangered Wildlife and Receive the Decision of No Approval of Arrest by the Procuratorate
Recently, an anonymous sub-bureau of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau cracked a major suspected crime of endangering precious and endangered wildlife, and detained a number of suspects. A lawyer team led by Yi CHEN and Xiaohan YANG from Hylands was engaged to serve as the defender for one suspect with the family name of Wang, and after unremitting efforts, the procuratorate finally made a decision not to approve the arrest, and Wang was released on bail pending trial.
Case Summary：
In July 2022, the suspect, Wang, was criminally detained for purchasing hawksbill turtle and other animal products. Upon acceptance of the assignment from Wang's relatives, Lawyer Yi CHEN and Assistant Lawyer Xiaohan YANG immediately started to work on the following: First, immediately communicate with the family members to understand the details of the case and calm them down; second, contact the Public Security Bureau without delay to make an appointment to meet with Wang and meet with him as soon as possible to understand the actual circumstances of the case, calm him down and hear his self-defense views; third, immediately launch a study on the case, systematically proceed with the forensic work, form a chain of evidence of innocence or misdemeanor, and submit the Application for Release on Bail to the public security authorities; fourth, perform a comprehensive legal analysis on the situation of this case, form a professional opinion based on the law, proactively communicate with the responsible prosecutor and submit the Legal Opinions on the Recommendation of No Approval of Arrest. Lawyers of the team have secured the rights of the client Wang to the greatest extent possible. Within 7 days of the review and approval of the arrest, lawyers of the team have overcome tight schedule and engaged in multiple rounds of face-to-face communication and negotiation with the prosecuting authority, yielding significant defense results. Finally, the prosecuting authority made a decision not to approve the arrest on the seventh day, and Wang was released on bail pending trial.
Defense Highlights：
1. Putting forward for the first time the identification standard of crimes against precious and endangered wildlife should follow the doctrine of observing old laws and imposing a lenient sentence, thereby significantly reducing the value of the items involved and laying a solid foundation for the prosecuting authority to make a decision not to approve the arrest. Upon accepting the entrustment, the lawyers of Hylands made a detailed analysis and retrieval about the case. Hawksbill turtle is a key protected aquatic wildlife at the national level. In accordance with the Measures for Valuing Aquatic Wildlife and Products Thereof and other related regulations, the value of a first-class protected animal is ten times the base price, and based on this standard, Wang was involved in a huge amount and was subject to a relatively high criminal penalty. In face of the above difficulties, lawyers from Hylands performed an in-depth study on the evolution and jurisprudence of laws and regulations related to this case, and in the process of the study, it was identified that prior to November 16, 2021, the hawksbill turtle was classified as a Class II national protected animal, and on November 16, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a notice to upgrade it to a Class I key protected aquatic wildlife. In this case, Wang purchased the involved items in January 2021, back then the hawksbill turtle was still classified as a Class II national protected animal. Following the doctrine of observing old laws and imposing a lenient sentence and in favor of the defendant, the calculation should be based on five times the base price of a Class II protected animal. Under the unremitting persistence of the Hylands lawyers, the prosecuting authority shared the view of the Hylands lawyers and decreased the value of the items involved in the case.
Viewpoint Highlights: Within the range of Beijing, the Hylands lawyers have pioneered the application of the above-mentioned viewpoints in suspected crimes against precious and endangered wildlife types, and have achieved quite satisfactory results.
2. Challenging the origin of the items involved in the case, thereby solidifying related evidence, further reducing the value of the items involved in the case, and providing a sufficient and solid basis for convincing the prosecuting authority to recognize the minor nature of the crime in this case. Hylands lawyers have inquired about a vast number of administrative documents and guidelines, and have applied to the Beijing Rural Agriculture Bureau for access to related materials. With such a series of materials, it was possible to prove that though the hawksbill turtle is a national key protected animal, artificial breeding is not prohibited. Nowadays, several artificial hawksbill turtle farms have been established in China, and successful artificial breeding of hawksbill turtles has been realized. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has also promulgated related approaches, stipulating that as long as the procedures are complete, hawksbill turtle and hawksbill turtle products can be traded without constituting a crime. Furthermore, in accordance with the provisions of the Measures for Valuing Aquatic Wildlife and Products Thereof, if the products are derived from artificial breeding, the price of the products shall be calculated at 50% of the original standard, thereby further reducing the valuation of the items involved. Upon finding out that the existing evidence couldn't prove that the hawksbill turtle products purchased by Wang were derived from wild hawksbill turtles, the Hylands lawyers elaborated the above-mentioned views to the prosecuting authority and proposed to adhere to the basic principle of suspicion in favor of the victim, and finally the prosecuting authority concluded that the amount involved in this case was not significant, the source of the items involved had not yet been identified, and the circumstances of Wang's crime were minor, therefore, the decision of not approving the arrest was made.
Viewpoint Highlights: The Hylands lawyers have closely adhered to the provisions of the law and made the point that a distinction should be made between artificially bred animals and wild animals and that no generalization should be made, yielding remarkable results.
3. The Legal Opinions Recommending No Approval of Arrest has highlighted the characteristics of the case and the involved person, and provided a solid basis for the prosecuting authority to make a decision not to approve the arrest.
The Hylands lawyers have proposed that the facts of this case are clear, simple and straightforward, the suspect Wang has confessed truthfully, the evidence has been secured, and the release on bail will not affect the proceedings of this case. Second, upon receipt of the summons call from the investigating authority, Wang took the initiative to appear before and actively cooperate with the investigating authority, which could be considered as a voluntary surrender. Further, Wang is a private entrepreneur, and it is in compliance with the policy requirements to release him on bail. In recent years, the state has promulgated multiple measures to protect the rights and interests of private entrepreneurs, and the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate have issued documents and speeches of leaders on the protection of private entrepreneurs clearly requiring the use of criminal justice policy to protect the legitimate rights and interests of private enterprises in accordance with the law. For private entrepreneurs, “not to arrest if it is possible to do so, not to prosecute if it is possible to do so, and to suspend the sentence if it is possible to do so”. Lastly, Wang, as the only economic source of the family, if he is released on bail, he can not only perceive the punitive function of the penalty, but also benefit from the educational function of the penalty, so as to realize the unity of the legal and social effects of the penalty.
Viewpoint Highlights: The Hylands lawyers have closely tracked the case and Wang's characteristics and followed the national policies, and finally the prosecuting authority made a decision not to approve the arrest.
Conclusion：
For suspected cases of crimes against precious and endangered wildlife, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate have promulgated in December 2020 the Guidelines on Punishing Illegal Wildlife Trade Crimes According to Law, and on April 7, 2022 issued a new judicial interpretation requesting strict distinction between artificially bred animals and wild animals when scrutinizing types of cases to avoid mixing artificially bred animals with wild animals. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has also released a series of documents specifying the criteria for assessing the value of precious and endangered wildlife and the products thereof. Lawyer Yi CHEN and Assistant Lawyer Xiaohan YANG have offered a full range of legal services based on their in-depth understanding of the case and related laws and regulations, which eventually enabled Wang to be released on bail pending trial.
With regard to this case, the lawyers of the team have finally made a decision of not approving the arrest by the procuratorate, which is rare and brings hope and consolation to the client and his family. In the upcoming defense, the team lawyers will continue to strive to secure the legal rights of their clients.