The People's Mediator's jurisprudence combines disputes
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On the evening of July 25, 2021, Sun Joo went out with a pet dog, as usual. The dog had come to a street light in the district, carrying his back leg and peeing on the street lamp, and had to twitch on the ground as if he had been electrocuted. Sun Koi immediately sent the dog to a pet hospital for rescue and died of electrocution.
After that, Sun, accompanied by Zhao Zhou Zhou Zhou Zhou Zhou, the district property manager, carefully examined the distressing street light and found that the street light poles had been badly rusted, that some of the wires had been exposed and that there had been serious electrical leakage. At the time of the incident, the dog had just peed on the exposed wire, resulting in electrocution. Since then, Sun has on several occasions consulted with Zhao Yi, a small property company, seeking compensation for the loss of pet dogs and moral damage. However, Zhao Ochi, a property company, insisted that compensation for the partial loss of pet dogs would be granted only on the grounds of external factors such as the unwinding of the street light poles and the lack of mismanagement, and that the remaining claims were rejected.
On 20 August, Sun Hoi came to the Putu District Joint People ' s Mediation Committee to apply for mediation, requesting the property company to compensate the pet dogs for the full cost of their damage and for moral damage totalling more than $50,000.
Mediation
Upon receipt of the request for mediation, the mediator made a serious effort to address the dispute. The basic facts of the case were clear, but the parties to the dispute had a significant difference of opinion as to liability and the determination of loss.
After the head of the property company, Zhao Zhao Zhou Zhou Zi, expressed his consent to the conciliation, the mediator immediately organized the conciliation between the parties. In communication with the mediator, Zhao Chiu explained that, in addition to the continuing storm effects of the typhoon, which caused the leaking of street lights in the sub-districts, the prolonged acidity of the lamppost and the decay of the lamppost were important causes of damage to the lamppost. In its view, the claim for compensation for the full cost of the damage and moral damage to the pet dog totalling more than $50,000 was too high.
Having heard Zhao's explanation, the mediator informed Zhao from a legal point of view that, in accordance with article 45 of the Property Regulations of the People's Republic of China, property service enterprises should refrain from violating laws and regulations relating to security, environmental protection, the decoration and use of property in property management areas and report to the relevant administrative authorities in a timely manner. The failure of the property company to comply proactively with its legal obligation to stop the lampposts, knowing that they are corroded with acidity and can cause damage to the lampposts, is one of the causes of the erosion of the lampposts by allowing long-term violations to occur.
At the same time, in accordance with article 55 of the Property Regulations of the People ' s Republic of China, in the event of a security threat to property that endangers the public interest and the legitimate rights and interests of others, those responsible shall maintain and maintain it in a timely manner. The failure of property companies to screen and maintain the security risks of the lampposts in a timely manner, particularly in the knowledge that the storm will cause damage to the lampposts, and in the broad context of the Government authorities ' demands to screen the security hazards prior to the storm ' s onset, the failure to organize personnel to detect the security risks of the lampposts was the main cause of the failure. Thus, the justification of Zhao Zhao Zhou for “the prolonged acidity of the lamppost and the significant cause of the damage to the lamppost” in addition to the continuous storm effects of the typhoon, is inconsistent with the relevant legal provisions and should not be used as justification for refusing compensation.
Having heard the conciliator ' s interpretation, Zhao agreed to assume primary liability to the extent reasonably possible, having realized that the property company had violated the law.
The mediator then spoke in person with Sun Joi, who stated that the failure of the property company to fully discharge its statutory responsibility for the management of public facilities and that the long-term lack of effective security of public facilities and security measures in the sub-region was all the cause of the dispute, thanks to the fact that the pet dog had exposed electricity leaks, otherwise the consequences for the population would be even worse.
Following some consolation with Sun, the mediator told Sun that the existing surveillance video showed that Sun had failed to fulfil his safety obligation because he had not been chained while walking his dog, leading him straight to pee under the lamppost he knew. According to article 1246 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: “An animal breeder or manager shall be liable for any violation of regulatory regulations that does not take safety measures against animals to the detriment of others. At the same time, prolonged acidic drowning of the lamppost is one of the major causes of damage to the lamppost, thus giving some legal basis to claims that property companies are unwilling to assume full responsibility. Having been guided by good practices and advised by specific laws and regulations, the mediator eventually realized that he was not right in this dispute and expressed his willingness to reduce the liability of the property company.
When the law was clarified and the responsibility clarified, the mediator had the opportunity to bring the parties to the dispute together for face-to-face mediation. After numerous communications and coordination by the mediator, Sun or I eventually agreed to waive the claim for moral damages.
"Conciliation Results"
Under the guidance of the mediator, the parties to the dispute eventually gave mutual accommodation, reached agreement on the settlement of the dispute and signed a settlement agreement. As a result, damage to property resulting from the death of pet dogs due to the failure of street lights in the district was finally resolved.
Case point review
This is a case of accidental damage to pets that are not adequately regulated by property companies for the management of public facilities in the sub-districts, especially in the event of a typhoon. In the present case, the failure to respond in a timely manner to the electrical failure of the street lights in the district, which resulted in the death of the pet dog from electrocution, would cause fear of public facilities among the owners of the district, seriously disrupt the normal life of the owner and have a negative impact on society. In the conciliation of this dispute, the mediator pacifies the feelings of the pet dog owner and conciliates against the contentious focus of the case, namely, the division of responsibilities between the parties. The conciliator uses a combination of legal reasoning to convince the parties of their responsibilities and ultimately enables the parties to reach a conciliation agreement, effectively avoiding the widening and escalation of the conflict.