On Forced Newspaper Apology

Making apology, a kind of legal obligation or moral duty, has caused great controversy in theory and practice. However, in terms of protecting freedom and dignity of human beings, making apology features great significance in protecting dignity of the injured person, and conciliating the psychic trauma of the injured person. In practice, because behaviors of the person causing injuries pose serious prejudice to personal dignity of the injured person, the court shall apply civil liability manner of making apology in accordance with the law, which makes great significance as protecting personal dignity of the injured person, maintaining social stability, and promoting social fairness. Nevertheless, if the court decides that the person causing injury shall shoulder the duty of making apology to the injured person, while the person causing the injury does not perform such duty, or although the person causing injury makes apology, but not sincerely repenting his or her own injury behaviors, and the court shall not force the person causing the injury to perform such duties, then it shall not achieve the predicted legal effect of the civil liability of making apology. On the country, it shall impose secondary trauma on the internal spirit of the injured person, thus being not good for protecting personal dignity of the injured person, maintaining social stability, or promoting social fairness. However, limited to the condition that the law lacks of definite regulations to force the person causing injury to make apologies, there is no corresponding compulsory executions when the person causing injury refuse to make apologies, and thus the judgment of the court becomes a mere scrap of paper. How to make the civil liability of making apology reach to predicted legal effect is a common issue for the legal theoretical society and practical society, but China still lacks of study on the forced execution of making apology---forced apology by publishing in the newspaper, and there is few concerned thesis paper or monograph on law. Therefore, study on the forced execution manner of making apology---forced apology by publishing in the newspaper features important theoretical and practical significance.This paper is divided into four parts:Part one discusses about the nature and disputes about forced apology by publishing in the newspaper. In terms of its nature, there is controversy of whether the forced apology by publishing in the newspaper belongs to moral liability or legal liability, while the author maintains that it belongs to a legal liability for the person causing injury; with regard to whether the forced apology by publishing in the newspaper can really make up psychic damage for the injured person, the author maintains that when the person making injury does not perform the obligation of making apology, it shall comfort the soul of the party involved, thus defusing the psychic trauma that caused by the damage of personality or honors for the injured person.Part two discusses about the existing problems of the forced apology by publishing in newspaper in China, including that theoretically there is few studies on the forced apology by publishing in newspaper in the law circle of China, and there is no stipulation about the forced apology by publishing in newspaper in China’s law. Since the opening and reform up policy, for the influence of foreign elements, China has laid particular emphasis on conducting economic compensation on the injured person when they are suffering the infringement of rights of personality or honors, so it ignores the soul conciliation of the injured person. Therefore, some person with the infringement of personality still feels that their rights are not completely safeguarded even when they appeal to the court and the court has given judgment, thus lacking of confidence to the fairness and justice of the law.Part three analyzes the forced apology by publishing in newspaper of foreign countries, getting the conclusion that the legislation about apology in foreign countries or other districts are more concrete than China, such as the forced apology by publishing in newspaper, or definite regulation of making apology by the law, or approval judicial decisions. In the countries with case law,"following the precedent" is a basic principle suitable for laws, therefore the execution of forced apology by publishing in newspaper possesses legal basis.Part four discusses about perfecting the legislative suggestions on forced apology by publishing in newspaper in China, thinking that China should regard forced apology by publishing in newspaper as a compulsory execution of making apology, and stipulate it in the "Tort Liability Law of People’s Republic of China", so as to balance the civil rights of the person causing injury and the injured person, thus protecting personal dignity and enhancing social fairness.