Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Measures for the Implementation of the "Domestic Violence Law of the P.R.C."

Source:http://www.xjbs.com.cn/news/2020-04/03/cms2243675article.shtml

Chapter I： General Provisions

Article 1: This Regulation is formulated on the basis of the “Domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China” and other relevant laws and regulations, combined with the autonomous region's actual conditions, so as to prevent and stop domestic violence, to protect the lawful rights and interests of family members, to preserve equal, tranquil, and civilized family relationships; to cultivate and practice the core social interests, to promote family harmony, and to preserve social stability and long-term political stability.

Article 2: Domestic violence as used in these Measures refers to physical, psychological or other infractions between family members through methods such as beatings, restraints, maiming, restrictions on physical liberty as well as recurrent insults, intimidation, berating, defamation, airing private information, stalking, harassment, and also using extremist conduct to exclude or interfere with family members normal production and lives.

Article 3: People's governments at the county level or above shall strengthen organization and leadership over efforts to counter domestic violence, shall establish and complete working mechanisms for efforts to counter domestic violence, and shall ensure funding.

Article 4: People's government institutions at the county level or above with responsibility for efforts on women and children are responsible for organizing, coordinating, guiding, and driving the administrative regions' efforts to counter domestic violence, and perform the following duties:

(1) Organizing and carrying out publicity on laws and regulations against domestic violence, statistical information, and training efforts;

(2) Periodically organize and convene cross-departmental conferences to draft work plans for efforts to counter domestic violence, to study and resolve major issues in efforts to counter domestic violence, and to submit recommendations for solving them and drafting policy measures;

(3) Coordinating and guiding relevant units in lawfully performing their duties, promoting the joint action and cooperation of multiple departments to counter domestic violence;

(4) Conducting oversight inspections on efforts to counter domestic violence;

(5) Lawfully carrying out other efforts to counter domestic violence;

Relevant departments of people's governments at the county level or above, judicial organs, people's organizations, social organizations, enterprises and public institutions, shall work to counter domestic violence within the scope of their respective duties.

Article 5: Efforts to counter domestic violence are to follow the principles of putting prevention first, and combining education, corrections and punishment, and implement societal co-governance.

Efforts to counter domestic violence shall respect victims' true wishes and protect parties' privacy; and information related to informants, persons reporting domestic violence cases, or witnesses must not be disclosed.

Minors, the elderly, persons with disabilities, pregnant and nursing women, and persons with serious illnesses who sustain domestic violence infractions shall be given special protections.

Article 6: Encourage individuals, social work service organizations, legal service organizations and others' participation in efforts to counter domestic violence, and carrying out services mental health consulting, family relations guidance, education on the prevention of domestic violence, and legal aid.

Chapter II: Prevention of Domestic Violence

Article 7: All levels of people's government shall include publicity on laws and regulations against domestic violence in their popular law publicity plans, and organize the relevant responsible departments to carry out publicity on rule of law, de-extremification, and family values, to counter domestic violence.

Within the scope of their respective duties, labor unions, Communist Youth Leagues, Womens Federations, Disabled Persons Federations, and other such people's organizations, social organizations, enterprises, and public institutions shall organize and carry out education on family values and publicity and education on countering domestic violence.

Radio, television, newspaper, internet, and other media shall strengthen public interest publicity and educational guidance on family values and countering domestic violence, to strengthen oversight of public opinion.

Schools and kindergartens carry out family values education and publicity and education on countering domestic violence for children, students, and their guardians, to increase the awareness of domestic violence among children and students and their ability to protect themselves, and to guid guardians to lawfully perform their duties of guardianship and education, and carry out family education in a civil fashion.

Article 8: Civil affairs departments shall guide the institutions for registration of marriages to include information on family values, marriage law, and countering domestic violence in family counseling, and inform the parties to the marriage rights and obligations in countering domestic violence, and of remedies.

Judicial-administration departments shall strengthen public legal services against domestic violence, such as legal publicity, legal consultation, notarization, forensic evaluations, and people's mediation, and complete people's mediation mechanisms for marital and family disputes.

people's courts, people's procuratorates, and public security organs shall collect example domestic violence cases from which to interpret and explain, spread, and publicize knowledge of domestic violence law for parties and the public.

Article 9: Township people's governments, and community offices shall guide villagers and residents committees in making domestic violence publicity and education an important part of villager and resident self-education, lawfully including opposition to domestic violence in governance charters, villager conventions and resident conventions to guide villagers and residents in lawfully resolving familial disputes and promoting family harmony.

Basic level people's mediation organizations shall give full play to their functional advantages by lawfully mediating and resolving marital and familial disputes and leading family members to obey the law and follow social mores and family values, to prevent and reduce occurrences of domestic violence.

Article 10: Relevant departments of people's governments at the county level or above, such as for public security, education, civil affairs, judicial administration, and health, people's courts, people's procuratorates, and womens federations shall include the prevention and stopping of domestic violence in their operational training and statistics efforts.

Article 11: Comprehensive governance centers (Online Service Centers) shall include work to counter domestic violence in their information management platforms; establish online mechanisms for key domestic violence monitoring, screen and confirm key targets for prevention, carry out publicity and education against domestic violence, resolve familial disputes, and prevent the occurrence of domestic violence.

Chapter III: Disposition of domestic violence

Article 12: Victims of domestic violence, their legally-designated representatives and close family may make a complaint, give feedback to, seek aid from, or make a complaint with the perpetrator's or victim's unit, villagers' committee and residents' committee, womens federations, disabled persons federations, and other relevant units. Where multiple units' scope of authority are implicated, the first unit to receive it is to handle it in conjunction with the other units.

After relevant units receive domestic violence feedback, requests for aid, or complains they shall give the following help and disposition:

(1) Discourage the domestic violence by conducting criticism and legal education for the offender;

(2) Carefully listen to the victims' demands, assess the risk level of the domestic violence, and determine a plan for resolving it;

(3) Based on work duties, provide services such as marital and family dispute mediation, psychological counseling, and legal assistance;

(4) Based on the victims' actual circumstances, actively assist in reporting cases, medical care, evaluation of injuries, shelter and assistance, psychological consultation, legal aid, and so forth; actively transferring them to relevant organs and establishments.

After relevant units receive domestic violence feedback, requests for aid, or complains they shall give the following help and disposition:

Article 13: Where schools, kindergartens, medical institutions, villagers' committees residents' committees, social work service institutions, aid management institutions, welfare institutions, and their staffs, discover in the course of their work that the following natural persons have suffered, or are suspected of suffering, domestic violence, they shall promptly report it to the public security organs and provide protection and aid to the victims:

(1) Persons lacking civil capacity;

(2) Persons with limited civil capacity;

(3) People who are unable to report the case due to reasons such as old age, disability, serious illness, pregnancy, nursing an infant, coercion, or intimidation.

Public security organs shall preserve the confidentiality of those making reports.

Article 14: Public security organs shall establish and complete mechanisms for handling domestic violence cases, and after receiving a domestic violence case shall promptly dispatch police and complete the following efforts to address it:

(1) Stop domestic violence that is currently being carried out, separate the parties, control the offenders;

(2) Investigate and collect evidence, fix relevant evidence, draft a dispatch record;

(3) Where the victims require medical attention, they shall be assisted in contacting a medical establishment for care with an evaluation of the injuries commissioned;

(4) Where persons lacking or with limited capacity for civil activity, or women who are pregnant or nursing, seniors, persons with disabilities or serious illness, are seriously harmed by domestic violence, are facing threats to their physical safety, or are in a dangerous situation of being uncared for, the people's government shall be notified to give them placement in a shelter, care facility, or welfare organization.

(5) Determine the facts, assess the extent of risk in the domestic violence, handle it in accordance with law.

Article 15: Where the circumstances of domestic violence are lighter and public security administrative sanctions are not given in accordance with law, the public security organs are to give the perpetrator criticism and education or issue a written warning.

In any of the following circumstances, a public security organ shall issue a written warning:

(1) did not receive the victims' forgiveness;

(2) the circumstances were more mild, but they have repeatedly perpetrated domestic violence;

(3) Where the perpetrator of domestic violence has previously been given criticism and education by a public security organ for committing domestic violence;

(4) Other situations where the public security organs find a written warning shall be issued.

Article 16: Written warnings shall include content such as the identity of the perpetrator, a statement of facts on the domestic violence incident, a prohibition against the perpetrator continuing to commit domestic violence, and the legal liability for violating the written warning. The specific format for the written warnings is to be uniformly provided by the public security department of the autonomous region's people's government.

In domestic violence cases where written warnings are given, the public security organs are to issue them within 72 hours of receiving the domestic violence call. The public security organs shall read out the content of the warning and the offender is to sign it. Where the offender refuses to sign it does not impact the validity of the written warning.

Public security organs shall enter the written warning and relevant file information into the law enforcement case-handling information system.

Article 17: Public security organs shall send the written warning to the perpetrator and victims, and inform their villagers' committees, residents' committees, and other relevant organizations.

Public security organs, villagers committees, and residents committees shall conduct periodic visits to offenders and victims who have received written warnings to inspect the implementation of the written warning and give oversight on the victim not experiencing further domestic violence, and record this in the file.

Article 18: People's governments at the county level or districted-city level may, either independently or by retaining an aid management organization, establish residential shelters or provide temporary shelter through methods such as government procurement of services, to provide temporary life assistance to victims of domestic violence.

Departments for civil affairs, public security organs, villagers committees, residents committees, womens federations, trade unions, communist youth leagues, disabled persons federations, and the units to which the offenders and victims belong shall inform victims that they enjoy the right to temporary shelter, and where victims request temporary shelter shall make arrangements with the shelter.

Article 19: Temporary shelters shall meet the following conditions:

(1) Have necessary funding, facilities, professional staff, and a fixed location;

(2) Have security safeguards sufficient to prevent victims for continuing to suffer harm from domestic violence;

(3) Establish mechanisms for cooperation and introductions with public security organs and other institutions against domestic violence.

Temporary shelters shall sort domestic violence victims by gender and age for different locations, protect their privacy, and coordinate relevant organizations and establishments to provide victims with services such as psychological counseling, medical care, judicial aid, and legal aid.

Article 20: Medical establishments shall promptly treat domestic violence victims and make good records of diagnoses and care.

Forensic evaluation establishments shall lawfully carry out efforts for the forensic evaluation of injuries from domestic violence and promptly issue appraisal opinions.

Legal aid organizations shall provide legal aid to victims of domestic violence in accordance with law. Legal service establishments are encouraged and supported in delaying, reducing or waiving legal services fees for victims who have financial hardship but do not meet the level of eligibility for legal aid.

Article 21: In any of the following situations, villager or resident committees, womens federations, labor unions, communist youth leagues, disabled persons federations, and so forth shall arrange for professionals to provide psychological counseling for victims and offenders and carry out legal education for the offenders:

(1) More serious harmful consequences are caused by domestic violence;

(2) The offender perpetrates domestic violence several times;

(3) The victims are minors, the elderly, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, nursing women, and persons with serious illnesses;

(4) Although minors do not directly suffer domestic violence, they witness the domestic violence.

Article 22: People's courts trying cases involving domestic violence may verify the facts of the domestic violence on the basis of evidence such as police dispatch records, written warnings, and injury appraisal opinions.

People's courts shall delay, reduce, or waive litigation fees for victims of domestic violence in accordance with law.

Article 23: Where guardians perpetrate domestic violence and seriously infringe on the lawful rights and interests of those in their care, the people's courts may lawfully revoke their guardianship qualifications and appoint a new guardian based on an application by others with guardianship qualifications, villager or resident committees, schools, medical establishments, womens federations, disabled persons federations, child protection organizations, lawfully established senior care establishments, departments for civil affairs, and so forth.

Perpetrators who have their guardianship qualifications revoked shall continue to bear the costs of maintenance, support, custody, and so forth for their wards in accordance with law.

Chapter IV: Personal Safety Protection Orders

Article 24: Where parties lawfully apply to people's courts for a personal safety protection order because they have suffered domestic violence or face an actual threat of domestic violence, people's courts shall accept it.

Where parties are in any of the following situations, their close relatives, public security organs, womens federations, villagers' committees, residents' committees or aid management organizations may apply on their behalf:

(1) Persons lacking or having limited civil capacity;

(2) People who are unable to apply themselves due to reasons such as old age, disability, serious illness, pregnancy, nursing an infant, coercion, or intimidation;

Article 25: Applications for personal safety protection orders shall be submitted in writing; where there is truly a difficulty in applying in writing, the application may be oral and the people's courts will enter it in the record.

People's courts receiving applications for personal safety protection orders are not to collect fees, and the applicants do not need to submit guarantees.

Article 26: The basic level people's courts for the residence of the applicant, the residence of the subject of the application, or the location where domestic violence occurred, have jurisdiction over personal safety protection order cases.

Article 27: Personal safety protection orders are to be issued by the people's courts as rulings, and divided into ordinary personal safety protection orders and emergency personal safety protection orders.

Ordinary personal safety protection orders refers to personal safety protection orders issued by the people's courts within 72 hours of receiving an application and verifying that the victim has suffered domestic violence or faces an real threat of domestic violence.

Emergency personal safety protection orders refers to personal safety protection orders issued by the people's courts within 24 hours of receiving an application and verifying that the victim is currently experiencing domestic violence or faces an imminent threat of domestic violence.

Article 28: Personal safety protection orders may include the following measures:

(1) Prohibiting the subject of the application from perpetrating domestic violence;

(2) Prohibiting the subject of the application from harassing, following, or having contact with the applicant or their close family;

(3) ordering the subject of the application to move out of the applicant's residence;

(4) Other measures for the protection of the applicants' personal safety.

Article 29: After people's courts issue personal safety protection orders, they shall promptly serve them to the applicant and the subject of the application, as well as the public security organs and villager or residents committees for the area where they live, and the units to which they belong.

Personal safety protection orders shall be in writing and served directly, mailed, or have service entrusted, where the recipient refused to sign for them service may be completed by leaving the documents. In emergency situations, telephone, fax, email, text message, and other such message may be used to give initial notice, and evidence relevant to the notification shall be stored.

Article 30: The validity period for personal safety protection orders is not to exceed six months, and they take effect on the date they are made. Prior to the expiration of a personal safety protection order, people's courts may withdraw, modify or extend it on the basis of an applicant's application.

Where applicants are dissatisfied with the rejection of an application or where the subject of an application is dissatisfied with the personal safety protection order, they may apply to the people's court making the ruling for a single reconsideration within 5 days of the ruling taking effect. The enforcement of personal safety protection orders made by a people's court in accordance with law is not stopped during the period for reconsideration.

Article 31: Personal safety protection orders are to be enforced by the people's courts and the public security organs, villagers committees, residents committees, and the units to which the applicant and subject of the application belong shall assist in enforcement.

Public security organs shall employ the following measures to assist the people's courts enforcement of personal safety protection orders

(1) Verify relevant circumstances of the party within 24 hours;

(2) Oversee the subject of the applications' compliance with the personal safety protection order;

(3) After it is discovered that the target of a personal safety protection order has violated the order, or after receiving a report on the same, promptly dispatch police and report the violation of the order to the people's courts.

Article 32: Where the target of the application refuses to act on the personal safety protection order, violates the personal safety protection order, or coerces the applicant into revoking the personal safety protection order, the applicant and their family may report to the police and may also apply for enforcement to the people's courts.

Where the above violations are discovered by Villager committees, resident comittees, or the units to which the applicant and target of the application belong, they shall promptly report to the people's courts or call the police.

Chapter V: Legal Responsibility

Article 33: Where offenders violate written warnings by again committing domestic violence and it constitutes a crime, lawfully pursue them for criminal responsibility; where it does not constitute a crime, the public security organs shall give punishments in accordance with the “P.R.C. Law on Public Security Administration Punishments.”

Article 34: Where a personal safety protection order is violated by the subject of the application and it constitutes a crime, pursue them for criminal responsibility in accordance with law; where a crime is not constituted, the people's courts shall give an admonishment and sanctions in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "P.R.C. Domestic Violence Law."

Article 35: Where schools, kindergartens, medical establishments, villagers' committees, residents' committees, social work service organizations, relief management organizations, welfare organizations or their employees violate article 13 of these Measures by not making a report to the public security organs, causing serious consequences, the directly responsible management personnel and other directly responsible personnel are sanctioned by the competent administrative department at the level above or by that unit.

Article 36: Where departments or organizations with duties for countering domestic violence do not perform, or incorrectly perform, their duties, causing serious consequences, the regulatory department at the level above or the unit to which they belong is to criticize and educate, or sanction, the directly responsible management and other directly responsible personnel; where a crime is constituted, pursue criminal responsibility in accordance with law.

Where state personnel who have anti-domestic violence duties derelict their duty, abuse their authority, or play favorites, they shall be punished in accordance with law; where it constitutes a crime, they shall be pursued for criminal responsibility in accordance with law.

Article 37: Where there are already provisions of law or administrative regulations regarding violations of these Measures, follow these Measures.

Chapter VI: Supplemental Provisions

Article 38: The Measures are to take effect on June 1, 2020. The "Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region Provisions on Preventing and Ending Domestic Violence" which were passed on November 29, 2008, by the 6th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th People's Congress for the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, are simultaneously abolished.