Text | Reporter Chang Xiangyu
As a national-level examination, the college entrance examination is an important channel and method for the selection and evaluation of national talents, which is related to talent training, social equity and national development.
On the eve of this year's college entrance examination, in order to further give play to the rule-guiding and value-oriented role of judicial adjudication, the Supreme People's Court selected and released five typical cases of lawful punishment of cheating in organizational examinations and other crimes that have taken effect in recent years, so as to further clarify the standards for adjudication, carry forward the core socialist values, and maintain an examination environment of fair competition, honesty and trustworthiness.
It is understood that since the implementation of the "Amendment (IX) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Amendment (IX) to the Criminal Law"), as of April 30, 2024, the people's courts have concluded a total of 4,007 cases involving the crime of organizing cheating in exams, illegally selling and providing test questions and answers, and substituting exams, and sentenced 11,146 criminals. To a certain extent, the chaotic phenomenon of cheating in the organization of examinations has been curbed, and the order of the national examinations has noticeably improved.
Focus on cracking down in accordance with law
In recent years, driven by economic interests, the degree of organization and gangization of exam cheating crimes has become higher and higher, and cross-regional, large-scale, and non-contact organized cheating activities have gradually emerged, and related criminal behaviors have become more and more hidden. In order to make profits, a small number of examination training institutions wantonly provide so-called "test assistance" services to candidates under the banner of "registration and adjustment", "guaranteed record and pass" and "no refund", inducing candidates to cheat and commit crimes.
"The crime of organizing exam cheating is often investigated and punished by multiple people in one case. In addition to the main culprits, some are college students who have been hired as 'gunmen' because they have a weak sense of the rule of law and are greedy for small profits; some are candidates and their parents who have taken advantage of opportunism and gone astray; and some have played a relatively small role in joint crimes. Most of the personnel were caught before or during the examination, and there were no serious consequences. The relevant responsible person of the Supreme People's Court said that the people's courts are to accurately implement the criminal policy of blending leniency and severity on the basis of the facts, circumstances, consequences, subjective malice, and personal dangerousness of different cases and different defendants, and where the circumstances are relatively minor, the harm is not great, and those who admit guilt and accept punishment are treated with leniency and punishment as appropriate. For example, the case of Chen and others organizing cheating on exams and illegally obtaining state secrets illustrates the people's court's responsibility to effectively punish cheating in exams, maintain educational fairness, and promote social creditworthiness by giving play to the role of adjudication.
The defendant, Chen, a middle school teacher in Jianli City, Hubei Province, was an invigilator of the 2020 National Unified Examination for Enrollment of Ordinary Colleges and Universities (hereinafter referred to as the "2020 College Entrance Examination"). At the beginning of 2020, Chen successively invited defendants Xie, Li, and Xiong (handled in a separate case) to conspire to organize cheating in the 2020 college entrance examination, and Xie contacted college students Ye, Li, and Liu (all handled in separate cases) to deliver messages and answers to test questions for cheating. Chen was responsible for the overall arrangement, contacting candidates and parents, collecting fees, bearing expenses, providing test questions, etc., and after contacting a number of candidates and parents, a total of 338,000 yuan was collected.
From July 3 to 4, 2020, Chen and Xie arranged for Ye, Li, and Liu to check in to a hotel near the examination room in advance. On the 5th of the same month, Chen purchased cheating tools such as law enforcement instruments and mini cameras. On the 6th of the same month, Li Moujun took the admission ticket and invigilation card handed over by Chen to the copy shop to make a fake admission ticket and a fake invigilation card. On the same day, Chen negotiated with Wu Mouqiang (handled in a separate case), Chen promised to provide Wu's son with answers to college entrance examination questions, and Wu Mouqiang agreed to use his position as an announcer in the examination room to assist in bringing cheating personnel into the examination room. At about 7 o'clock on the 7th of the same month, Wu Mouqiang drove Ye, Li Mouyu, and Liu into the examination room. At about 11 o'clock, Ye was discovered by the school teacher and transferred to the public security organ. After Ye was arrested, Chen and others immediately implemented the second set of plans, with Chen responsible for shooting the test papers, Xie Mou, Li Mouyu, and Liu answering questions in the hotel, and Xie passed the answers to Xiong Mou, who was hiding in the examination room in advance, and asked Xiong to send red envelopes to the invigilator. At about 14 o'clock on the same day, after Chen received the 2020 National College Entrance Examination Science and Mathematics test paper as an invigilator, he took a photo of the test questions with his mobile phone before the test paper was enabled and sent them to Xie and others through WeChat, and Xie and others were arrested by the public security organs on the spot when they answered the questions in the hotel room. Chen and Li voluntarily surrendered.
On February 4, 2021, the People's Court of Jianli City, Hubei Province, made a judgment and sentenced the defendant Chen to four years in prison and a fine of RMB 20,000 for the crimes of organizing cheating in exams and illegally obtaining state secrets; Defendant Xie was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined 20,000 yuan for the crime of organizing cheating in exams; Defendant Li Moujun was sentenced to one year imprisonment, suspended for two years, and fined 5,000 yuan for the crime of organizing cheating in exams.
Fairness is the soul of the exam, and honesty is the code of conduct for candidates. Cheating in examinations undermines the order of examinations and the talent selection system, hinders fair competition, undermines social integrity, and corrupts the social atmosphere, and is more serious to society. In response to relevant issues, Article 284 of the Ninth Amendment to the Criminal Law adds the crime of organizing cheating in examinations, the crime of illegally selling and providing test questions and answers, and the crime of substituting examinations, and makes special provisions on organizing cheating in national examinations prescribed by law and other acts that disrupt the order of examinations. On September 4, 2019, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases such as Cheating in Organizational Examinations, which provides clearer legal guidance for effectively cracking down on cheating in organizational examinations and other crimes in accordance with the law.
"Full chain" punishment
In recent years, many organizations have gradually formed a criminal chain with a clear division of labor and close coordination, with special personnel in the upstream illegally obtaining test questions, special personnel in the middle stream responsible for purchasing or making cheating equipment and soliciting cheating "students", and professional "gunmen" in the downstream responsible for answering questions. In order to reduce the cost of cheating or out of the "righteousness" of friends, some cheating candidates also illegally resell and provide test questions and answers to others.
In view of these circumstances, the people's courts, on the basis of accurately ascertaining the different links and acts in which each defendant participated, sentenced each defendant to bear criminal responsibility in accordance with law. In the typical cases released this time, Zhou Mouguang and others illegally obtained state secrets, illegally sold and provided test questions and answers, and organized exam cheating cases are typical cases of the people's courts cracking down on the crime of organizing exam cheating across provinces.
On May 28, 2021, defendant Zhou Mouguang, as the person in charge of a test center in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, for the 2021 National Level 2 Construction Engineer Qualification Examination (hereinafter referred to as the "Second Construction Examination"), stole the test questions of the Second Construction Examination by closing the monitoring of the confidential room and taking photos with his mobile phone before the examination, and sold them to Dang Moujiang at a price of 450,000 yuan in accordance with the previous premeditation with the defendant Dang Moujiang. In accordance with the agreement with the staff of a training institution and the defendant Fang, Dang Moujiang sold it to Fang at a price of 1 million yuan. After Fang obtained the test questions from Dang Moujiang, he hired 9 people, including defendants Zhang and Tian, to organize a number of candidates to cheat. Defendant Zhang Moumin contacted Fang to purchase test questions and answers, and paid a deposit of 60,000 yuan. After that, Zhang Moumin, Xie Mouyang, and Lu Mou sold and provided test answers to 20 candidates, and some candidates sold test questions and answers layer by layer, and even sent them to a QQ group with more than 1,700 members. Fang also sent the answers to the Erjian exam to Dang Moujiang, who in turn sold them to the defendant Guo Mouyang for 120,000 yuan, and Guo Mouyang then provided the answers to the other three people for cheating in the exam.
On November 30, 2022, the Sucheng District People's Court of Suqian City, Jiangsu Province made a judgment and sentenced the defendant Zhou Mouguang to five years in prison and a fine of RMB 300,000 for the crimes of illegally obtaining state secrets and illegally selling test questions; The defendant Dang Moujiang was sentenced to six years imprisonment and fined 310,000 yuan for the crimes of illegally obtaining state secrets, illegally selling test questions and answers, and the sentence for the crime of organizing cheating in exams that had not yet been executed; Defendant Fang X was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment and fined 240,000 yuan for the crimes of illegally obtaining state secrets, organizing cheating on exams, and illegally selling and providing test questions and answers; The other 24 defendants were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from six months to two years and two months, and fined between 6,000 and 100,000 yuan, respectively, for the crime of organizing cheating in exams or illegally selling or providing test questions and answers, and some of them were given suspended sentences. The judgment also declared professional prohibitions or restraining orders against some of the defendants in accordance with the law. After the first-instance verdict was announced, some of the defendants appealed. The Intermediate People's Court of Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, rendered a second-instance judgment, commuting the sentence to a lighter sentence for one defendant's meritorious service, rejecting the appeal against the other defendants, and upholding the original judgment.
"The professional and technical qualification examination is to ensure that relevant practitioners have professional qualifications and abilities, which is not only related to the future of their careers, but also of great significance for ensuring industry norms and practice safety. In recent years, the qualification examination for architects and constructors has become a frequent area of 'assistant examination' crimes. Cheating in this kind of examination not only undermines the authority of the examination and harms social fairness, but also lays potential safety hazards for the construction of construction projects. The relevant person in charge of the Supreme People's Court said in elaborating on the typical significance of the case that in the course of the trial of the case, the people's court clarified the facts of the crime according to the circulation path of the test questions and answers, and convicted and sentenced the persons involved in the case for the crime of illegally obtaining state secrets, organizing cheating in exams, illegally selling test questions and answers, and illegally providing test questions and answers, etc., and severely punished the "whole chain" and resolutely maintained the fairness and justice of the national examination.
"Those who commit acts such as organizing cheating in examinations other than those prescribed by law shall not be exempted from criminal liability, and those who constitute the crime of illegally obtaining state secrets, the crime of illegally using special equipment for eavesdropping and eavesdropping, the crime of illegally using information networks, the crime of disrupting the order of radio communications management, and other crimes shall also be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law. In addition to convicting and sentencing the defendant, the people's court may also announce a professional prohibition or restraining order in accordance with law on the basis of the circumstances of the crime and the need to prevent further crimes. The relevant person in charge of the Supreme People's Court introduced.
Actively promote source governance
In response to prominent problems such as chaotic examinations and training, imperfect internal control mechanisms, and lack of administrative punishments, the people's courts are to actively perform their duties in accordance with law, sending judicial recommendations to the departments in charge of education, civil service examinations, and so forth through individual cases or similar cases, promoting the standardization of management of examination training, completing industry access systems and internal control mechanisms, cleaning up institutions that violate laws and regulations, upgrading intelligent security measures, and strengthening punishments for cheating and violations.
In the fifth typical case released this time, the people's court sent a judicial recommendation to the local civil service examination department after the case was heard, suggesting that the relevant departments should further improve the awareness of discrimination and responsibility of the examination personnel, increase the application of information technology, improve the management level of the examination room and face recognition technology, and reduce the possibility of substitute examinations.
From 2014 to 2020, defendants Zhang Moujie, Lu Mouqiang, and Li conspired to organize cheating in exams, and used themselves and defendants Jiang Mouyuan, Dong Mouyuan, and dozens of other highly educated personnel as "gunmen" to form a "talent pool" for substitute exams. Through the introduction of defendant Zhang and others, or the placement of advertisements on the Internet, the setting of keywords and other promotions to attract traffic, or through QQ groups, WeChat groups, etc., to solicit dozens of candidates who participated in the national examination, such as defendants Feng Mouwei and Wang, to provide online registration guidance, making false documents, offline substitute test services, and other "one-stop" substitute test services.
Based on the candidate's gender, facial features, and type of examination, Zhang Moujie and others selected a "gunman" with a similar face and a professional counterpart from the "talent pool" to take the test, and then arranged for technical personnel to synthesize photos of both the candidate's and the "gunman's" facial features through a computer for online application, and provided them to the defendant Huang Moushui to make false identity documents, and then the "gunman" mixed into the examination rooms of more than 10 provinces and cities across the country with fake admission tickets and ID cards, taking advantage of the loopholes in the identity verification of the examination organization department. Substitute candidates for 89 national examinations prescribed by law, such as the National Civil Service Examination. Zhang Moujie and others also organized cheating in other examinations such as public institution examinations many times through the above-mentioned methods. Zhang Moujie and others have collected more than 10 million yuan in substitute examination fees.
On August 14, 2023, the People's Court of Heshan City, Guangdong Province, made a judgment and sentenced the main offenders Li, Zhang, and Lu Mouqiang to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from five years and six months to five years, and fines ranging from RMB 1 million to 700,000 yuan for the crime of organizing cheating in exams; Dong Mouyuan and 13 other accomplices were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from three years and three months to eight months for the crime of organizing cheating in exams, and some of the defendants were given suspended sentences and fines ranging from 500,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan; Feng Mouwei and 18 other defendants were sentenced to criminal detention ranging from four months to two months for the crime of substituting examinations, and some of them were given suspended sentences and fines ranging from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan; Defendant Huang Moushui was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined 20,000 yuan for the crime of forging or altering identity documents. The defendants were to be recovered from the corresponding unlawful gains. After the first-instance verdict was announced, some of the defendants appealed. The Intermediate People's Court of Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, made a second-instance ruling, rejecting the appeal and upholding the original judgment. The judgment has taken legal effect. Some of the candidates who asked for a "gunman" to take the test were dealt with separately. At the same time, in response to relevant issues, the court also sent judicial suggestions to the relevant departments, and achieved good results.
In recent years, lawbreakers have targeted loopholes in exam registration and identity verification in the examination room, gathered some highly educated and test-taking personnel to form a "talent pool" for substitute examinations, used the Internet to recruit candidates who need to cheat nationwide, and organized "gunmen" to use photos and admission tickets synthesized by information means to take the exams for others, showing the remarkable characteristics of wide coverage, strong concealment, and high success rate. In response to these problems, many local courts have strengthened education on the rule of law by organizing school students to observe court hearings and publicizing typical cases, which not only effectively deters lawbreakers and candidates who try to cheat, but also reminds the majority of candidates and their parents to firmly establish a sense of integrity and consciously resist cheating in examinations, thus reducing the occurrence of such crimes from the source.
The relevant person in charge of the Supreme People's Court said that in the next step, the people's courts will adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, adhere to the criminal policy of blending leniency and severity, punish criminal acts such as cheating in exams in accordance with the law, maintain fair examination order, promote social customs of integrity, and help create a clean and upright examination environment.
Cover and table of contents of this issue
China Trial, Issue 12, 2024
China Trial News Semi-Monthly, No. 346
Editor/Min Sun