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Ⅲ Subject of procedure
There are two problems pertaining to claimant. Firstly, if a natural person dies by an injurious act or the dead’s personality or remains suffers injury, his or her spouse, parents, children or close relatives shall have the right of claiming for compensation of mental injury. Secondly, if a legal person or other organization files for mental injury compensation on the grounds of its civil right and interests, such as moral right, being infringed upon, the court shall not support its claims.
In China, there have been two viewpoints in academia on spiritual compensation of legal person. One thinks that compensation for spiritual damage can only be applied to natural person. Mental injury is, in essence, a damage of non-property which refers to the wound and affliction in physiology, mentality, spirit and emotion suffered by the victim and his close relatives by right of the infringement upon the right of personality. This kind of wound and pain only exists in natural person and is manifested in the form of sadness, anxiety and despair. Mental pain is the base and premises of compensation for spiritual injury. But as to legal person or other organization, when its rights of personality such as right of name, right of honor were infringed upon, there is no pain in spirit and psychology, and therefore, no room for applying compensation of mental damage is left. Only its property loss may be compensated. If there is no property loss occurred, it may be handled by other forms of assuming civil liability such as ceasing the infringing act, making a apology or eliminating ill effects etc.
The other considers that mental injury refers not only to the pain of victim in his or her physiology, mentality, and spirit caused by tort, but also includes the damage of abstract spiritual interests the victim suffered from the infringing act. According to this standpoint, mental damage can be divided into three categories: firstly, physiological injury such as infringing upon the victim’s right of life, right of health, right of body; secondly, psychological injury that causes the victim’s spiritual pain, anxiety, despair; and thirdly, spiritual interests injury which infringes upon the victim’s name, portrait, honor, family and marriage relationship. Every “person” in law, whether a citizen or a corporation, has spiritual interests and may be the victims of mental injury. Therefore, any infringing act causing spiritual interests damage to legal entity or other organization, the infringer shall also bear the compensatory responsibility for mental injury. But the Supreme People’s Court did not adopt the second’s point of view, in article 5 of the “interpretation” it states:
Where a legal person or other organization sues for compensation of spiritual damage on the grounds of infringement upon its personality, the people’s court shall not accept it.17
In the judicial practice the courts also hold a negative attitude to the compensation for spiritual injury of corporation. In 1993 the Supreme People’s Court issued a judicial explanation titled An Answer of the Supreme People’s Court to Issues in Trying Cases Concerning the Right of Reputation, which provides in article 10 that:
If a citizen or a corporation claims for compensation on his or its rights of fame being infringed upon, the infringer shall compensate the economic loss caused by his or its infringing act. If a citizen makes a claim for mental damage compensation, the people’s court may handle it at its discretion according to the fault degree of the infringer, concrete details of infringing act and outcomes of mental injury made to the victim.18
This provision divided explicitly the “compensation for losses” provided in article 120 of the General Principles of the Civil Law into two categories: economic loss and mental injury, and confirms that only citizen has the right to claim for spiritual damage compensation.
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