Hotspots · Analysis

The Story of the Rose from a Legal Perspective: The Legal Path of Rose's Struggle for Child Custody

The TV drama "The Story of Roses" is not only an emotional drama about women's self growth and family relationships, but also a true portrayal of the interweaving of law and family love in contemporary society. In the drama, Rose (Huang Yimei), as a strong single mother, faces a legal battle for custody of her child after divorcing her ex husband Fang Xiewen. This process highlights the rights and responsibilities of both parents in custody issues under the modern legal system, as well as how the law safeguards the best interests of minors.

Legal Principles and Practice

Returning to reality, according to Article 1084 (3) of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, "After divorce, children under the age of two shall be directly raised by their mothers. For children who have reached the age of two, if the parents cannot reach an agreement on the issue of custody, the people's court shall make a judgment based on the specific circumstances of both parties and the principle that is most beneficial to the minor child. For children who have reached the age of eight, their true wishes shall be respected." When dealing with custody issues, the court's primary consideration is the principle of "the best interests of the child. This means that when making a judgment, the court will also comprehensively consider factors such as the child's living environment, educational conditions, mental health, and relationship with parents to ensure that the child can receive the most favorable parenting arrangements for their healthy growth.

Evidence collection and court statements

In the process of fighting for custody, roses need to provide sufficient evidence to prove that they can provide a stable and healthy living environment for their children. This includes but is not limited to stable sources of income, suitable living conditions, good education plans, and positive and healthy parent-child relationships with children. Setting aside the rationality and feasibility of the concept of "leaving the household in exchange for child custody" in movies and TV dramas, she still needs to prove that her ex husband Fang Xiewen may not be conducive to the healthy growth of the child in certain aspects, such as excessive control desire and potential domestic violence tendencies.

My team previously represented a female client in a lawsuit to fight for child custody. Through applying for a "Personal Safety Protection Order" for the client in the early stage and later explaining and proving to the court from multiple perspectives that the female client is more suitable for raising the child, we ultimately fought for the client's custody of the child.

Throughout the first and second instance litigation process, the presiding judge also conducted mediation work for both parents of the child multiple times. During the litigation process, as the representative lawyer, the team assisted the client in obtaining the most favorable judgment result; But when it comes to the handling of visitation rights after the judgment, the team also actively cooperates with the court to help both parties restrain and resolve conflicts, in order to create a stable, optimistic and positive living environment for the growth of underage children and maximize their interests.

Striving for child custody is a complex and sensitive process that involves numerous legal provisions and practical considerations. The author has also sorted out several key points for consideration for reference. Specifically, including but not limited to:

Firstly, economic strength conditions. From a life perspective, the determination of custody requires consideration of the caregiver's economic ability to ensure that the child can access necessary living and educational resources. Economic ability is an important foundation for raising children, and higher income often means better living conditions and educational opportunities. From this, it can be seen that if Rose does not have a good family background as a basis and support, it is not a wise choice to fight for child custody on the condition of leaving the household.

Secondly, the advantage of educational resources. The education of children is one of the important factors in evaluating custody. High quality educational resources have a significant positive impact on a child's growth and future, and the court may also tend to award custody to the party that can provide a better educational environment.

Thirdly, the fertility of both parties. According to Article 46 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Code of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (Part 1), "If both parents request direct custody of a minor child who has reached the age of two, and one of the following circumstances occurs, priority consideration may be given: (1) the child has undergone sterilization surgery or has lost fertility for other reasons." If one party loses fertility, it can also be used as one of the grounds for claiming custody.

Fourth, whether one party has been suspected of criminal offenses or has been subject to administrative penalties. The conduct and behavior records of parents are important references for evaluating custody. Criminal offenses and/or administrative penalties to some extent reflect the inadequacy of one parent in complying with laws and social norms, which may affect their ability to provide a safe and stable environment for their child's growth, and also become an important reference factor for the court to comprehensively consider and judge the custody of the child.

Fifth, emotional regulation ability. Emotional stability is one of the criteria for the court to evaluate custody, and an environment that is emotionally stable, able to provide children with safety and emotional support is crucial for their growth.

Overall, in cases of custody, the court will comprehensively consider the above points and more factors, such as the quality of interaction between parents and children, the wishes of children, the health status of parents, etc., with the ultimate goal of ensuring the best interests of children and promoting their healthy growth.

Mediation and Judgment

In legal proceedings, Rose can seek the help of professional lawyers to ensure that her legitimate rights and interests are fully expressed and protected.

Mediation is an important link in the court proceedings, which aims to reach a parenting plan acceptable to both parties through consultation. If mediation fails, the judge will make a final judgment based on the evidence submitted by all parties and legal provisions. The judgment result may not only include the ownership of direct custody, but also involve details such as visitation rights and payment of child support.

epilogue

Through 'The Story of the Rose', we see the positive role of law in maintaining family harmony and children's growth, as well as witnessing the resilience and wisdom of women in the face of difficulties. The custody dispute in "The Story of the Rose" is not only a personal battle for the rose, but also a reflection of how the legal system seeks justice and balance in family disputes. When facing custody issues, the law is both a tool to solve the problem and a shield to protect children's rights. For single mothers, the law grants them equal rights to fight for custody, while also emphasizing the importance of both parents sharing responsibility and working together for the happy future of their children.

Industry · New Policies

On June 1, 2024, the "Latest Work Tips on the Filing of Short Dramas" issued by the State Administration of Radio and Television officially came into effect.

This regulation clearly states that micro dramas need to implement a classification and hierarchical review system, and any micro dramas that have not been reviewed and filed shall not be disseminated online. This new regulation officially brings the micro drama market, which was originally not subject to the review system, into the "filing era". On June 1st alone, 3309 short dramas with approximately 227000 episodes were registered and obtained online registration numbers in the online audio-visual program registration system.

On June 12, 2024, the State Internet Information Office, together with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Administration of Radio and Television, jointly issued the Regulations on Cyber Violence Information Governance

The Regulations on the Governance of Cyberbullying Information will officially come into effect on August 1, 2024. The regulations cover multiple aspects such as clarifying the main responsibilities of network information content management, establishing and improving prevention and warning mechanisms, regulating the handling of online violence information and accounts, strengthening user rights protection, improving supervision and management level, and clarifying legal responsibilities, aiming to provide strong legal support for the governance of online violence information. The responsibilities of network information content management that network information service providers should undertake have been clarified, including establishing and improving mechanisms for governance of online violence information, fulfilling the obligation of authenticating real identity information, formulating and publicizing management rules and platform conventions, signing service agreements with users, and regularly publishing announcements on the governance of online violence information. In addition, network information service providers need to refine the classification standards for online violence information, establish and improve the feature library and typical case sample library of online violence information, clarify the obligations to handle illegal and harmful information related to online violence, and take measures to handle relevant accounts. The regulations also require network information service providers to strengthen their protection against online violence and improve private message rules to further safeguard user rights.

On June 19, 2024, the Shanghai High Court released a batch of typical cases involving judicial protection of intellectual property rights in the film and television industry.

There are a total of 10 typical cases in this batch. These cases cover both criminal and civil cases, including copyright infringement, protection of adaptation rights, attribution rights, information network dissemination rights, as well as unfair competition behaviors such as counterfeiting and false advertising, signing of script commissioned creation contracts, and protection of accessible audiovisual works.

In Case 4, it involves 8 audio albums on the "Xi" platform, which perform novels adapted from the script of the popular TV series "Chen Xi Yuan" in a reading format. The album titles all contain "Chen Xi Yuan", and posters and screenshots of the drama are used in the illustrations. The court ruling holds that as an online audio platform provider, it should bear a higher duty of care for works during the popular season. If the platform fails to fulfill its reasonable duty of care and fails to take necessary measures in a timely manner to prevent infringement, it constitutes aiding infringement.