A strong protest was made in the Provisional Court on December 28 by Mr. S. L. Burdett against the sentence imposed on a truck driver "by the presiding Judges "of the Court of Appeal when six months' imprisonment was imposed following the accidental death of a Chinese boy who was run over in Chaoufung Road when attempting to cross the road. The protest in full is as follows:-—protest against the conviction of the accused in this case, which I consider to be against the weight fof the evidence. It has been shown in the evidence that at 12.0 p.m. on October 25 the accused was driving motor truck No. 9800 from ist to west along Broadway; that Chaoufung Road crossing Sikh Police Constable No. 49 held up the north and south bound trafic -!to allow the traffic proceeding to west to pass along Broadway: that the deceased and one Zau, clasping each other and disregarding the traffic which was. considerable at the time, ran across Broadway from north to south from Dehind the S.P.C, and against - his signal; that on reaching the middle of the. road Zau ran back again whilst the deceased ran on and was knocked down by the motor truck; that ie necused whose truck could not attain a speed of more than 18 miles per hour, applied his brakes directly he saw the child in front of im and stopped the truck about 21 yards beyond the spot where the deceased was knocked down; and that" though the foot brakes were defective, the hand break was in good order.
Chinese Law or Custom I am of the opinion that had the foot brakes been in perfect order the accident would nevertheless have been unavoidable, and suggested to the learned judges that in any case the licence of the truck rather than the accused, who is merely a coolie engaged at about $20 per mensem to drive it, must Chinese custom appears to demand that, irrespective of the facts of any particular case, the injured party or the family of the deceased must receive compels: the survivor, who is ipso facto "responsible," no matter how remotely, for the accident. The new criminal code requires proof of negligence, however, before a conviction can be entered, In order that Chinese custom may be fied a conviction must be entered.
No matter what the evidence in a given case may show it must, therefore, be accepted as proof of negligence, and, if A is killed or injured in a traffic accident, B must ipso facto be "guilty" of negligence, notably #f he was driving a motor-car.
In the above evidence the accused jin this cise has, in the name of Tustice, been convicted of negligence causing death, and had been sentenced to six months' -imprisonment and to pay $200-compensation to the family of the deceased. If this is Justice based: upon the law and the facts in this ease, then the streets of Shanghai must be regarded as the playground of pedestrians which may be-used by vehicles only at their peril.
(signed). S.L. Buroert
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.