Chapter 193 - 119: Provincial Leader

Lin Guodong wouldn’t say the other man was wrong, but he was firm in his own convictions.

"By the way, we’ve heard from the provincial government."

Lin Guodong began to speak.

He was about to continue when his phone suddenly vibrated, its screen casting a faint, pale yellow glow.

Lin Guodong glanced down at it, then looked up at Master Guanxin with a hint of hesitation.

Master Guanxin nodded.

Seeing this, Lin Guodong hesitated no more and answered the call.

A voice immediately came through the earpiece.

"Hello? Is this Professor Lin?"

"It is. This is Shishan. The province is selecting its classic cases for the year, and we wanted to ask your thoughts... Of course, if Elder Chen is with you, could you please ask for his opinion on our behalf as well?"

A hearty voice came over the phone.

’Shishan.’

Lin Guodong frowned at the man’s words.

"You haven’t conducted the internal selection yet?"

"Ah, this time it’s different, completely different," the man named Shishan said from the other end of the line. "It’s not an internal court selection. The level is very high!"

Upon hearing this, an idea struck Lin Guodong, and he asked instinctively,

"Is the Political and Legal Affairs Commission heading it?"

Shishan sighed. "That’s right. It’s a selection organized and led by the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission and the Office of the Leading Group for Law-Based Governance."

"It’s the Provincial Comprehensive Law-Based Classic Case Selection."

"From the looks of it, unlike the usual thirty cases, the selection criteria are clearly much stricter. I estimate... it’ll be narrowed down to 15 cases, 20 at the most!"

Fifteen cases!?

The corner of Lin Guodong’s eye twitched.

Normally, ten classic cases would be considered a lot. So why did fifteen seem like so few this time?

The reason was the difference in nature between a selection led by the Political and Legal Affairs Commission and selections organized by each individual system.

Its nature was ’Party-government coordination of province-wide legal system development’!

The value of the word ’coordination’ was still on the rise.

Normally, each branch selected its own classic cases.

The courts would select cases from the court system, with judges as the panelists; the procuratorate would select cases from the procuratorate, with prosecutors participating.

Ten slots per system wasn’t a huge number, but it wasn’t exactly small, either.

But when the Political and Legal Affairs Commission coordinated the selection for everyone...

Public security, the procuratorate, the courts, and the judiciary—they all had to participate!

All the cases, regardless of which system they came from or what type they were...

...covering criminal, civil, administrative, public interest litigation, grassroots governance, mediation, community corrections, legal aid, and law-based administration...

...were all thrown into one pot, and out of hundreds of thousands of cases, only 15 would be chosen!

The province had more annual top scorers on the college entrance exam—at least one per city, not even counting those who took other paths.

But under this coordinated system, the entire province might have only 15 chosen cases!

"The prestige is immense... truly immense!"

Shishan’s voice over the phone was extremely grave as he stressed this point.

"The panel of judges is also incredibly high-level."

"The Provincial High Court, the Provincial High People’s Procuratorate, the Provincial Public Security Department, and the Provincial Department of Justice."

"Experts from law universities, delegates to the People’s Congress, members of the Political Consultative Conference, representatives from the Provincial Bar Association, and directors from various national law firms—they all have a vote!"

Their votes were weighted differently.

But in practice, the combined weight of the latter group was nearly equal to that of the four official bodies.

This meant it was impossible to rig, making the prestige ridiculously high!

It was second only to the classic cases announced each year by the highest national bodies in Yanjing.

"So, what about Elder Chen? My superiors are asking me to get his opinion."

Shishan spoke again.

"His opinion is crucial. There are several borderline cases... we’re just waiting for him to weigh in."

’Elder Chen...’

Lin Guodong paused, turning his head to glance at Master Guanxin.

The master was still sipping his tea, his expression unreadable.

Lin Guodong replied,

"Elder Chen is getting on in years. He doesn’t have the time."

"Oh... is that so..." Shishan said.

The man on the other end fell silent for a moment before sighing.

"Alright. Well, if Elder Chen does find the time... we’d welcome his opinion."

"Okay, I won’t disturb you any further, Professor Lin."

After a few more pleasantries, the call ended.

Lin Guodong turned to Master Guanxin.

"That was the provincial office. It sounds like this year’s classic case selection is at a deadlock."

Master Guanxin nodded.

However... he paused abruptly as he was sipping his tea.

’The two cases from Lusen City this year certainly qualify for selection in terms of difficulty and their classic nature, but... from what I know of the details, their selection is far from certain. The authorities don’t prohibit tactics like evidence ambushes, but... they’ve never supported them, either. Especially in a case with such a unique nature. If the Li Family Village case is selected... its impact would be no less than the future Brother Long case. The dormant ’justifiable self-defense’ clause would be gradually revived and applied more frequently in case law.’

"What about Xu?" Master Guanxin asked.

"Hard to say, unless..."

Lin Guodong said pointedly,

"Someone with a heavily weighted vote is willing to speak up for him."

Master Guanxin didn’t reply, giving no hint of his thoughts as he silently sipped his tea.

The wind on the night of January 14th was particularly blustery.

But it was held at bay by the stove burning inside the stone pavilion.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Wutong City, the capital of Qingwu Province.

"SIGH..."

Provincial Hall, Office of Law-Based Governance Research and Supervision.

Shishan sighed, looking at the dark screen of his phone.

His colleagues saw this and crowded around him.

"Well? What’s the situation?"

"What were Elder Chen’s and Professor Lin’s opinions?"

Shishan looked up at his colleagues and shook his head.

"Elder Chen still isn’t answering his phone; I can’t even get through to him. And Lin Guodong won’t give an opinion. Those two abstain from every vote."

The room fell silent.

All of Qingwu Province’s heavyweights were in seclusion, and even a senior theoretical expert like Lin Guodong was keeping his mouth shut.

That made scoring the cases incredibly difficult.

"What’s the status of the cases now?" Shishan asked.

"Still the same as before?"

A colleague sighed. "Still the same."

"Those two cases from Lusen City... they’re just too unique, and the pressure they represent is enormous. In the current running, they’re on the verge of being eliminated."

"The directors of the three big law firms are competing ferociously in the criminal law category."

"They’re all voting for their own firms’ cases, and some university professors are backing them."

A province with a population of one hundred million wouldn’t have only two major cases in all of 2002.

Likewise, there wouldn’t be only two *successfully prosecuted* major cases!

None of the top five law firms in the province were slouches. They handled major cases one after another and were fully qualified to compete in the criminal law sphere.

Granted, none of their cases could compare to the two from Lusen City in terms of difficulty, perfect resolution, or unique nature.

"But they’re just too unique."

"If the first case is selected, that dormant clause will have to be applied more widely."

"As for the second case, the three big firms are using the ’evidence ambush’ argument to shoot it down. The officials are mulling it over, too. That tactic is something they really don’t support."

The competition was incredibly fierce, thick with the scent of gunpowder.

But the results of this competition would also grant the victors an equally sweet fruit of victory.

The group shook their heads and went back to organizing their materials.

The cases were too unique, their potential impact too broad.

If they were selected rashly and it led to negative consequences, it would be difficult to assign blame.

That was why Shishan wanted to ask Elder Chen—Chen Jingshan—for his opinion, to get a sense of his thoughts.

After all, his vote carried immense weight on the judging panel.

Chen Jingshan’s seniority wasn’t just about his age... he was a ’senior’ in the truest, most literal sense of the word!

"What a pity..."

Shishan shook his head, clicking his tongue in dismay.

"Aside from the official bodies, no one is willing to back these cases. The people from the Provincial Bar Association are just looking out for their own interests."

"They don’t want to be utterly humiliated by some rookie lawyer who’s just come out of nowhere."

"And those two cases from Lusen City... they’re truly brilliant."

He sighed and went back to tallying the scores.

...

...

「January 15.」

Lusen City. White Cloud Temple.

"BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG!"

At eight in the morning, the main door to Xu De’s room was being pounded on.

"Stop sleeping! If you sleep any longer, the trial will be over before you get there!" Lin Yue shouted from outside.

A long moment later.

The door before them let out a "CREAK."