Forced labor crime, a relatively young crime in terms of its legal definition.
It mainly started during the reform and opening up period, when many private enterprise owners, driven by profit maximization, forced their employees to work through various means.
Thus, in 1997, the crime of forced labor of workers was incorporated into the law.
By the 21st century, illegal kilns and other entities without the qualifications to employ labor, were also engaged in extremely serious forced labor practices.
So, after an evolution, Article Eight of the criminal law amendments in 2011 officially revised it to the current crime of forced labor, removing the limitation to formally recognized employers.
And the term "serious circumstances" was made an aggravating factor rather than a constituent element of the crime.
In other words, theoretically, as long as you have engaged in the act of forcing others to labor, you are likely to have committed this crime.
The police officer in front of him looked at the evidence without any expression on his face.
It took a long time before he said, "Lawyer Tang, I will take these pieces of evidence for now, but as for whether or not to file a case, we'll need to review it first."
Old Tang wasn't surprised by this, as grassroots police officers aren't omniscient; those who can decide whether to file a case just by looking at the evidence are either dealing with cases where the facts are very clear and evident.
Or it is a case involving a criminal caught in the act.
And for some less common charges one, grassroots police officers are actually not as knowledgeable as legal workers, not to mention that many of them have definitely not passed the bar exam.
Therefore, it requires specialized legal review by departments like the legal section.
So, Old Tang simply said, "Then I'll wait for your call."
After speaking, he nodded to the police officer, then slowly stood up and began to walk unsteadily out of the office, taking one step at a time.
The police officer almost wanted to go over and help him; in his condition, you'd believe it if someone said Lawyer Tang might collapse the next second.
Better report it quickly, if Lawyer Tang doesn't hear the result until its too late, that could give rise to some public opinion too...
He personally felt that what Lawyer Tang had said made sense, but since he wasn't familiar with the specifics, he would need someone else to review the case to determine if it was eligible for filing.
The evidence and related interrogation records were transferred to criminal investigation, because if the case were to be filed, it would certainly involve actions across provinces, an effort beyond the scope of a local police station.
The jurisdiction of the public security organs is generally territorial jurisdiction, that is, where the crime was committed, that area's public security organ has jurisdiction.
There is also jurisdiction based on the residence of the criminal, which is designed for procedural convenience.
Old Tang continued to enjoy the landscapes of Dongfang City, his mobility significantly impeded—not to complain, but the metal pins and the like were truly uncomfortable.
He also took the opportunity to look at Dongfang City's labor markets and agencies, the bosses of which were said to be swimming in money.
But even though these agency bosses are wealthy, they often find various reasons to deduct from the workers' pay, according to casual conversations he overheard these past days. Googlᴇ search n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
One could say the harmonious society has saved them, but no matter what, there comes a day when the inner fire can't be suppressed.
Monday morning, at the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Guanning District Branch, Lao Lu began reviewing the case files that had been passed on to him.
One case in particular caught his attention.
"Forced labor crime? And the complainant is the victim's lawyer?"
While flipping through the files in his hands, Lao Lu thought to himself that the charge of forced labor was rare, especially such a complaint coming from civilians, it was extremely uncommon.
Most of the time, these charges emerge after the public security organs have cracked some case, and the prosecutor's office pursues litigation for the forced labor activities involved.
Especially now, as the forced labor took place within an electronics factory in the jurisdiction of the Guanning Branch, it warranted serious consideration.
Again, when a case is of a certain magnitude, there's a lot to consider.
In Dongfang City, these tangible manufacturing industries are virtually the backbone, with over ten thousand factories and a workforce numbering in the millions, sustaining the GDP of Dongfang City.
So caution, caution, and more caution is absolutely necessary in this regard!
However, after slowly going through all the evidence materials and interrogation records, Lao Lu was reassured.
This wasn't an attack on the electronics factory; it was targeted at the schools behind those students, so there was no issue.
It might trigger certain questions, like whether there were related issues with internship students in other factories, but these were not really a concern.
And one has to admit that the evidence collected by this Lawyer Tang Fangjing was impeccably solid, making Lao Lu feel like the case practically wouldn't need much investigation once filed.
The threat behavior, along with evidence of students being forced to labor, comprised a complete chain of evidence.
It even gave him a feeling of being spoon-fed...
Lao Lu agreed to file the case, then suddenly realized, wasn't Tang Fangjing someone he had seen online? What was he doing at a police station in Jiangguang, filing a case?
Lao Lu couldn't guess Tang Fangjing's motives, but he was ready to start the investigation.
The case then moved to the legal department, which also required scrutiny...
It was already Wednesday afternoon, and Old Tang was sitting next to a human resources company, eating noodles reputed to be famous here, casually chatting with young people while eating.
"Let me tell you, brother, if you can get into the factory directly, do not go through agencies, never go through agencies. Those people have hearts as black as coal!" a young man complained while eating his noodles.
"I recently did a short-term job, was supposed to be paid five hundred bucks. But after the work was done, the agency said there were issues with my work and the factory wanted to deduct money, deduct a hundred."