Chapter 779: Chapter 278: Brilliant Maneuver, Reversal of Situation!

The judge’s voice, tinged with age, slowly began to speak.

Though quiet, it carried an authority that brooked no contradiction.

And this scene...

Was witnessed by everyone in the pre-trial chamber, their expressions varied.

On the plaintiff’s side, George sat at the lawyer’s bench, the corners of his mouth turned up, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

Xu Liming also couldn’t help but let out a sneer, scoffing at Qin Mu’s actions.

On the defendant’s side, Chen Tiankuo’s frown deepened upon seeing this.

His expression changed drastically.

"What’s wrong? What did that old man just say?" Zhang Qingyuan blinked, tugging Chen Tiankuo’s sleeve as he asked, casually pointing towards the judge at the very center of the courtroom.

This judge was very old, much older than those back home. Although the judge appeared kind and benevolent, Zhang Qingyuan always felt his words weren’t kind.

Chen Tiankuo sighed. Continuing his role as translator, he repeated the judge’s previous words.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qingyuan became immediately agitated. "Why must we donate just because we signed? How does he know whether I signed willingly or was tricked into signing?"

"This is too irresponsible, isn’t it?" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"He just decided it was our problem based on the lawsuit materials the other side submitted?"

"This man is too rash! All those years, and for what? He’s worse than the Judgment Chief in Jin City!"

He kept complaining, becoming increasingly dissatisfied with this judge.

Moreover, the judge’s words clearly showed bias. There was no so-called objectivity or fairness whatsoever. The trial had only just begun, yet he had already supported the other party’s settlement proposal and was now speaking from their perspective. He hadn’t even begun to hear the case... This would absolutely not be the procedure back home.

"The trials here... are like this." Chen Tiankuo sighed again and briefly explained the powers of a judge in this system.

Back home, a Judgment Chief didn’t have much power. Though they held judicial authority, they were obliged to act according to the law and couldn’t violate legal regulations. Even to render a sentence below the statutory minimum, they needed to report it to the supreme court and obtain approval.

But abroad, it was completely different.

Here, judges wielded true judicial power, truly in control of legal decisions, unconstrained by codified laws. They could exercise considerable discretion in their judgments, based on their own understanding of the law.

Often, even if a defendant had clearly breached a contract or committed a crime, the judge could turn a blind eye and release them!

Of course, some younger judges wouldn’t dare do this, but the older, more experienced ones often had greater say and dared to make groundbreaking rulings.

Take acts of valor, for example... In foreign court rulings, even if an act of valor resulted in an innocent person’s death, the one performing the act wouldn’t have to bear excessive criminal liability.

A judge’s ruling, made according to personal feelings... reduced the likelihood of muddled compromises. At the very least, it had a significant guiding effect on public conduct.

Once, there was a famous bear-killing case. A boyfriend and girlfriend went camping, and the boyfriend, wanting to surprise his girlfriend, dressed up in a black bear suit, pretending to be a bear to scare her, scaring his girlfriend out of her wits.

Then... a nearby hunter saw this. The hunter shot, killing the "black bear" and "saving" the woman.

If this case were in our country, it would definitely be considered involuntary manslaughter.

But abroad... he was directly acquitted! No criminal liability was assigned!

The judge’s verdict read: "When a compatriot is in distress, anyone, at any time, should step forward. This is an act of justice, always correct, and one should not consider other potential consequences."

So, in the case-law system abroad, judges could exhibit emotional biases. The outcome of a ruling... depended more on the judge’s views and attitude towards the case.

Chen Tiankuo had just briefly explained the differences in legal systems to Zhang Qingyuan when he heard Qin Mu begin to argue, "Sanctity?"

"With all due respect, these two donation agreements submitted by the other party are nothing but filthy, ugly schemes executed under the guise of donations!"

"A donation, by its very nature, should stem from an individual’s personal willingness to offer aid to other victims or the impoverished."

"Just imagine, a donation that even the involved parties themselves are unwilling to acknowledge—how sacred can it be? What significance could it possibly hold?"

Chen Tiankuo looked up. He saw Qin Mu, calm and composed, meeting the judge’s gaze.

He was bluntly confronting the judge, not yielding an inch.

This... this this...

He swallowed hard, cold sweat forming on his forehead.

At that very moment, Only one word surfaced in his mind: Gutsy! Way too gutsy!

In all his years of litigating abroad, this was the first time he’d encountered someone speaking to a judge with such a confrontational tone.

It should be noted that even if the verdict is delivered by the jury after the case goes to court, the judge still possesses veto power. If the judge does not acknowledge the verdict, a retrial is required. It could be said that the judge fundamentally sways the outcome of the case. Combined with the judge’s authority for discretionary sentencing... going against a judge rarely ended well.

"Young lawyer from abroad, I don’t deny your words, but the sanctity of the contract is paramount. You need to understand that your clients possess full civil capacity and can be held fully responsible for their actions."

Meanwhile, in court, after being challenged, the judge, showing a hint of displeasure, stated, "The handwriting in question was submitted to a forensic agency for verification, and its similarity to each of the two individuals’ own handwriting reached 80%."

"That’s sufficient to prove the signatures were indeed made voluntarily."