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The famous professor Xiong Bingyuan from National Taiwan University came to SHUFE Law and gave the students an impressing lecture on Mar. 28, 2013. He is a knowledgeable and humorous scholar with rich teaching and research experiences. Hosted by Deputy Dean Professor Ma Hong, the speech attracted many audience members.

Prof. Xiong elicited the concept of economic perspective by providing three attractive cases which were controversial when came to the solutions of the cases. The first case was about the ownership of the fruits which dropped to the yard of your neighbors, whether you still have the right to get them back. The second was about an accident between a cheap car and an expensive car. The cheap car hit the expensive car but the owner couldn’t afford to pay the fees to repair the car, and did the owner of the cheap one have the duty to pay the whole fees? The last one was very interesting; suppose you lost one yuan but it would cost you ten yuan to get it back, and will you still insist to get it back only for the purpose of catching the thief who might cause terrible criminals in the future? The students actively expressed their opinions, and some adhered to the view that they should get the fruits back, the owner of the cheap car has the duty to pay the fees, and they need to catch the thief at any cost because “we have to defend the values of our life”. Prof. Xiong showed his respect to this view and then proposed his own analysis. He said that let the evidence to speak. In real life, there are many facts which will affect the results of the cases, such as people in different areas have different living levels, when concerning the financial burden that they are obligated to take, those facts must be considered. “We should cherish the faith of fairness and justice but belief is different from facts. We have limited judicial sources, so we have to think about the cost-effectiveness behind the cases”. said Prof. Xiong. All of those summarized in one word that is ‘cost’. This is the real thing Prof. Xiong tries to express. At last of the lecture, Prof. Xiong came to his conclusion with one meaningful sentence: “The demand for justice is not independent of its price!”

This is a valuable lecture and provides us with more independent space to think about legal issues. At the end of the speech, Deputy Dean Professor Ma Hong made a brief summary by saying that “Professor Xiong Bingwen brings us an edifying lecture, and I hope he can often come to SHUFE Law to make academic exchange. Thanks a lot.”

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(By Lesley)