On April 20 and May 18, pictures were posted online showing judges driving police cars to the fields to work (Image source: Hengyang Intermediate People's Court website).
By reporter Zhanjiang Ruan
Today, in response to the public opinion and heated discussions among netizens regarding the "judges driving police cars to work in the fields" incident, Qidong County People's Court of Hengyang City, Hunan Province gave an exclusive response to the Legal Daily reporter, stating that the court's actions did not involve any form of showboating. However, they also admitted that it was indeed inappropriate to drive police cars to the fields.
On May 21, a netizen named "Xiaoli Feisandao" posted on the Rednet Hengyang forum, claiming that "Qidong court judges drove police cars during working hours to work in the fields, which is a form of showboating and neglecting their official duties." This quickly sparked numerous follow-up posts and discussions. By the afternoon of May 24, over a hundred websites had reprinted the story.
Today, according to the "Situation Report on the Establishment of Agricultural Learning Base and Judges Participating in Labor Being Stirred Up" provided by Qidong County Court, on December 24, 2010, Qidong Court issued the "Implementation Plan for Conducting Re-education Activities on Public Views," which clearly arranged for the second phase of activities (from January 11, 2011 to April 10, 2011) to "select a village in the county to establish an agricultural learning base, determine several particularly disadvantaged people as assistance targets, and organize officers to conduct agricultural production for the assistance targets during each year's busy farming season."
On January 26 this year, Qidong Court held the 2011 Annual Work Conference and Mobilization Meeting for Re-education on Public Views, deciding to choose a nearby village to establish the Qidong Court Agricultural Learning Base and set up an Agricultural Learning Fund. A large number of officers and people's assessors donated more than ten thousand yuan on the spot. After the meeting, after on-site inspections, Qidong Court preliminarily decided to build the Agricultural Learning Base in Zichong Village, Fengshiyanch Town.
"From the above process, it can be seen that the establishment of the Agricultural Learning Base from its conception to final establishment was the collective opinion and decision of the Party Leadership Group. At the same time, the establishment of the Agricultural Learning Base was independently decided by Qidong Court and was not a measure taken only after the municipal committee called for cadres to go down to the countryside for labor," said a relevant person in charge of Qidong Court.
According to reports, since 2008, Qidong Court has been rated as an outstanding court in the city for three consecutive years and an advanced unit in target management in the county. In 2010, Qidong Court ranked first in the work assessment of the judicial system in the city and was rated as an outstanding court in the province. "This fully demonstrates that our court can carry out some educational activities closer to people's livelihood without affecting normal work, which is feasible and effective," said this person in charge.
It was learned that since the establishment of the Qidong Court Agricultural Learning Base, the officers have participated in labor at the Agricultural Learning Base three times, respectively on April 13, the morning of April 20, and the morning of May 18.
During the first labor, the officers purchased 900 kilograms of fertilizer for the households at the Agricultural Learning Base and personally delivered them to the homes of Mr. Peng and Mr. Zhou. They also held seminars with the two households to understand their needs.
The second labor was carried out in response to the needs of the two households at the Agricultural Learning Base. Without affecting normal work, more than 30 officers of Qidong Court, including all members of the leadership team, changed into casual clothes, brought their own mineral water and prepared lunch, and took vehicles within the court (only a 15-minute drive from the court to the Agricultural Learning Base) to transplant rice seedlings for the farmers at the Agricultural Learning Base. Under the guidance and demonstration of the farmers, the court officers spent half a day planting six mu of early rice.
In the third labor, led by three court leaders, more than 30 officers organized to cultivate six mu of early rice planted on April 20 and helped another farmer complete the cultivation task for the adjacent field. Currently, the rice seedlings of the two households are growing well.
Relevant person in charge of Qidong Court stated that from the above three specific labor processes, the officers of Qidong Court went to the Agricultural Learning Base to serve the masses, all of which were pre-arranged, and they continuously participated in a series of production processes. It was not for showboating or for the benefit of the leaders.
"We feel very uneasy about the hype surrounding the participation of officers in labor production online. The leaders and officers are carefully examining their own behaviors and positively facing supervision from all sectors, striving to promote self-development through external supervision," said this person in charge. Of course, we must learn some lessons from this, such as even though the journey is only 15 minutes, it is still inappropriate to drive police cars to the fields; despite not affecting normal work, we should try to arrange help for the people during holidays as much as possible.
Hengyang, May 24th
Comments welcome.