20 17 10, Wang, a two-and-a-half-year-old girl from Taikang county, Henan province, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma in Zhengzhou, and her cancer cells had spread. The doctor advised her family to take chemotherapy and conservative treatment.
Because she didn't have a job, in order to earn nutrition money for her children, Wang's mother began to try to release a small video and broadcast it live. Some users told her that she could apply for donations and help through the "Water Drop Fund", a fundraising platform for serious illness. During this period, Ms. Ma, who claimed to be a volunteer, came to her house to help. On April 5, 20 17, Wang's grandfather, mother and volunteer Ms. Ma came to Beijing to treat Wang.
At Beijing Children's Hospital, they were told that the child was in critical condition and could not be operated on or hospitalized. Volunteers said they could help contact other hospitals, but Grandpa Wang Taiyou thought it was a scam for volunteers to help them see a doctor, because some volunteers were taking pictures of them all the way, trying to make their parents cry and telling them how to make others donate money without crying. After fighting with volunteers, Wang's family returned to Taikang County and continued to treat her in Zhangji Town Health Center. On May 4th, Wang, who was less than three years old, died unfortunately.
On May 24th, an illustrated article entitled "The Death of the Prince and Daughter" reached its climax with a series of accusations against the Wangs, including "fraudulent donation" that appeared on the Internet in April.
On May 24th, in response to the news that the Wangs got a water drop fund of 6.5438+0.5 million yuan, but it was not used for Wang's treatment, but for treating his brother's rabbit lips, the water drop fund issued an official statement, confirming that the funds actually raised by the Wangs were 356.89 yuan, not 6.5438+0.5 million yuan as mentioned on the Internet. The angel foundation, a non-profit organization, also confirmed that the cost of treating rabbit lips by brother Wang was borne by the foundation.
On May 25, the police in Taikang County, Henan Province said that they did not know the evidence that Wang's parents were suspected of fraud, nor did they file a case against the relevant allegations.
At this point, this incident has come to an end. However, the related matters and the legal issues involved deserve careful study.
1. Is the girl's death due to "abuse and abandonment" or "intentional homicide"?
From April 9th, celebrities and volunteers certified by Weibo believed on the Internet that the Wangs chose to give up treatment after using their children's illness to raise money, and were suspected of "defrauding donations", "embezzling the remaining donations" and even "abandoning and abusing children".
After Wang's death, there were comments on the Internet accusing him of: "Xiao suspected of being abused to death by his biological parents." Then a group of people accused: "Hell is empty, and Feng Ya's parents are on earth." Even from the media, in the form of comics, Wang was bullied by his younger brother, disliked by his grandparents, and "beaten" by his mother because of quarreling with his younger brother. Many people suggest that their families should be investigated for criminal responsibility for abandonment, abuse or even intentional homicide.
Article 261 of China's Criminal Law stipulates: "Whoever refuses to support the old, young, sick or other people who have no independent living ability shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance." In other words, "not giving effective treatment when the dependent is sick" is indeed suspected of abandonment.
If the fact is true, as alleged by some online public opinion, and the money raised is enough for treatment and the treatment conditions are available, the family members of Girl Wang deliberately give up treatment on their own initiative or passively cooperate with volunteers to refuse treatment, then their behavior may indeed be suspected of abandonment. However, "intentional homicide" is a very serious crime in our criminal law. It is obviously untenable in law if the family members choose "conservative treatment" in their hometown instead of "radiotherapy" or "chemotherapy" in the middle and late stage of the girl's cancer, instead of being hospitalized in a big city hospital as requested by volunteers.
Wang, who died young, never imagined that her death would cause such a big wave, and even made some online public opinion accuse her family of "the crime of abuse" and "the crime of intentional homicide".
Second, the relationship between non-profit organizations and charity law.
According to many media reports, some volunteers participated in Wang's treatment and fundraising. Among them, there are two volunteer organizations that often help to raise funds, release information and follow up, namely "Love and Charity" and "Big Tree Charity".
The author inquired about two platforms, chinese social organizations Public Service Platform and Charity China-Information Inquiry of National Charity Organizations, and found that Love and Charity had no registered information on these two platforms, while Dashu Charity was a private non-enterprise unit registered with Huangpu District Social Organization Administration.
Then, is it legal for unregistered "charity" to participate in fundraising for Wang?
Article 8 of China's "Charity Law" clearly stipulates: "The charity organization mentioned in this Law refers to a non-profit organization that is established according to law, conforms to the provisions of this Law, and aims to carry out charitable activities for the society." Article 9 stipulates: "A charitable organization shall meet the following conditions: (1) To carry out charitable activities as its purpose; (2) Not for profit; (3) Having its own name and domicile; (4) Articles of association; (5) Having necessary property; (6) Having a qualified organization and person in charge; (7) Other conditions stipulated by laws and administrative regulations. " Article 10 further stipulates: "To establish a charitable organization, it shall apply to the civil affairs department of the people's government at or above the county level for registration, and the civil affairs department shall make a decision within 30 days from the date of accepting the application. Those who meet the requirements of this law shall be registered and announced to the public; If it does not meet the requirements stipulated in this law, it shall not be registered and the reasons shall be explained in writing. "
However, the author further inquired through major search engines, but did not find the detailed information such as the specific residence, organization, person in charge and specific registration information of the organization "Aixi Hongshan".
If "Love and Charity" is not a legitimate fund-raiser, what kind of law has the organization touched?
Article 101 of the Charity Law stipulates: "In any of the following circumstances, the civil affairs department shall give a warning and order it to stop fundraising activities; Ordering the illegal collection of property to be returned to the donor; If it is difficult to return, it shall be confiscated by the civil affairs department and transferred to other charitable organizations for charitable purposes; Impose a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan on the relevant organization or individual: (1) An organization or individual that is not qualified for public fundraising conducts public fundraising; (2) Deceiving or inducing fund-raisers to donate by means of fictional facts; (3) apportioning to units or individuals or apportioning in disguised form; (4) obstructing public order, the production and operation of enterprises or the life of residents. Radio and television, newspapers and periodicals, network service providers and telecom business operators who fail to fulfill the verification obligations stipulated in Article 27 of this Law shall be given a warning by their competent departments and ordered to make corrections within a time limit; If it is not corrected within the time limit, it will be informed criticism. "
Article 27 of the Charity Law stipulates: "Radio, television, newspapers, Internet service providers and telecom operators shall verify the registration certificate and public fundraising qualification certificate of charitable organizations using their platforms."
In the video interviewed by Wang Jiaren, Wang's mother mentioned that volunteers sent donations for help in many WeChat groups and other channels to raise funds. However, according to the provisions of article 10 1 of the Charity Law, if "loving and promoting goodness" is an organization that does not have the qualification of "public fundraising", then its fundraising behavior violates the provisions of this law. What is more noteworthy is that radio, television, newspapers, Internet service providers and telecom operators may also be held accountable for failing to verify the authenticity of fundraising information according to law.
In this incident, we don't know whether the volunteers of individual public welfare organizations (or organizations under the banner of public welfare) participated in Wang's rescue and fundraising for public welfare or fame and fortune. However, it is still worth discussing whether the relevant organizations really belong to public welfare organizations in the legal sense, whether they have broken through the legal boundaries and whether there are illegal acts.
Third, Internet fundraising and the touch of charity law.
Although the implementation date of China's charity law is 2065 438+9 65 438+0, 2006, it is not ahead of the times, or even slightly lagging behind and blank. For example, regarding the legality of individuals using self-media and online platforms to raise funds, the supervision of donations and the disposal of the rest, the charity law does not involve related matters, which makes this law more and more criticized.
Does personal online fundraising belong to "public fundraising" or "public crowdfunding" as stipulated in the Charity Law? The Observation Report on Public Welfare Crowdfunding in China (released by Ruisende Fundraising Research Center on August 20 14) defines public welfare crowdfunding as follows: Public welfare crowdfunding in a broad sense refers to public fundraising, that is, raising funds or other resources for the public; In a narrow sense, public welfare crowdfunding is a public welfare fundraising project initiated by public welfare organizations, enterprises or individuals on the crowdfunding platform. Investors provide financial support for the project and get corresponding returns after the project is successful. Therefore, we can think that donation crowdfunding is actually a special kind of public welfare crowdfunding, which cannot be simply summarized in a narrow or broad sense.
According to the provisions of China's Charity Law on charitable donation, individuals must seek the cooperation of non-profit organizations before they can initiate donations, and charitable donations do not aim at returns, that is, they must conform to the basic characteristics of public welfare. But in reality, individuals can directly ask for help through the online crowdfunding platform. The platform has no special requirements for the qualifications of sponsors. The sponsor of crowdfunding project needs to set the fundraising target amount, fundraising time and corresponding donation return. The content of return includes physical or non-physical, but the return does not form an equivalent income with the donation itself.
Therefore, individuals seeking help through crowdfunding is a combination of Internet rescue and Internet crowdfunding, and it is not possible to judge whether it belongs to public welfare simply on the initiative of individuals or non-profit organizations. China's "Charity Law" has not yet involved the behavior of individuals seeking help through the Internet platform, and the blank here should be filled.
What should I do if the money raised by my family through the internet is not spent? After Wang's death, many people accused her family of "raising 6.5438+0.5 million donations, not spending much, leaving the rest for themselves". Later, according to the confirmation, the money raised by her family through water drops was not only used for treatment expenses, but also left more than 1000 yuan, and her family gave it to Taikang County Charity Association. According to the provisions of the current Charity Law, if the donations from public offerings are not used up, they can be used for corresponding or similar projects. However, there is no clear law on private fund-raising.
There are different opinions on how to deal with the balance of this privately raised medical treatment fund: some scholars believe that according to the nature of the money, it should be treated as the inheritance of the rescuer; Some scholars believe that it should be returned to donors, but whether it should be returned to all donors in proportion or to later donors in time is still inconclusive. Some scholars believe that it should be donated to the corresponding foundation to help similar patients. I prefer the last view.
Fourth, rationally face the online donation event, and you can't give up eating because of choking.
Although social networks such as Alipay and WeChat and Internet crowdfunding platforms such as Didi Chuxing have become widely used fundraising tools, they are not "legal and compliant" fundraising tools in the eyes of legislators of the Charity Law.
In fact, compared with these internet fundraising platforms, the "legal and compliant" charity fundraising method is too complicated, and the examination conditions and time are very long, which is time-consuming and laborious, which brings inconvenience to the recipients for help. On the contrary, although the Internet platform has a big loophole and is easy to be questioned, it has the advantages of low threshold, fast spread, great influence, strong interaction, high efficiency and unimpeded use of donations, which can help those who ask for help in the shortest time. Many seriously ill families choose to turn to the Internet platform because it is more practical for them. Therefore, public offering charities should reflect and develop a convenient and humanized online platform crowdfunding audit system to facilitate help seekers and force online crowdfunding to return to rationality.
Charity has its particularity. The public would rather believe that every help-seeking event is true, but in fact, with the increasing popularity of internet help-seeking fundraising, "fraudulent donations" and other events have occurred from time to time. If the internet fundraising platform is not properly supervised, any "fraudulent donation" incident may seriously affect the public's confidence in the public welfare industry. Although most people sympathize with others' experiences, they have almost zero tolerance for fraud. As long as a fraudulent fund-raiser appears, it will hurt the public welfare of many caring people, and it will take a long time for the injured public to calm down.
Some experts have called for online fundraising to enter an orderly state. They argue that only charitable organizations established in accordance with the law and qualified for public fundraising have the right to carry out fundraising activities through the Internet, and the online platform for online fundraising must be uniformly reviewed or designated by the civil affairs department, hoping to promote the healthy development of online charity activities and eliminate the phenomenon of mixed fish and dragons.
At this point, the author believes that it is one thing to standardize Internet fundraising activities, but it is also essential to strengthen the legislation of the Charity Law to legalize individual fundraising. Most importantly, the public should always believe that "at the beginning of life, nature is good." After all, there are only a few people who "cheat donations", and the vast majority of people who ask for help are those who really need public welfare and charitable assistance. They should not ruin their love because of the misconduct of individual recipients, let alone choke on food. At the same time, in the case that the truth is still unknown, online onlookers should refrain from using language violence, watch rationally, and protect the temperature of people's hearts.