165: We accept all the evidence of the other party.

“The appellant, in the case of Luo Hongxuan's application for information disclosure, is not satisfied with the judgment No. 79 of the Lüshan City Railway Transportation Court… and is now filing an appeal.”

“Requesting the Court to revoke the original judgment.”

“Facts and reasons: The appellant obtained multiple new pieces of evidence after the first-instance hearing, among which two key pieces of evidence are the ‘Silver Fir District Education Bureau’s Opinion Solicitation Letter Regarding Information Disclosure’ and the ‘Letter of Disagreement with Information Disclosure’ issued by Gao Yewei, the original shareholder of Kangde Company, the counterparty to the contract.”

“Based on these two pieces of evidence, it can be proven that if the appellant discloses this information, it will cause damage to the rights and interests of a third party.”

“Therefore, according to Article 32 of the Regulations on the Disclosure of Government Information, administrative agencies should not disclose it.”

That was the reason. Previously, they had not solicited opinions from third parties, so they hadn't obtained this opinion letter, but now they had.

Next to Zhou Yun, Luo Hongxuan almost stood up in anger after hearing this.

“Zhou Lawyer, this… this is a bit too much, isn’t it? I’ve been looking for the boss of that Kangde Company for a long time, but I couldn’t find him at all.”

“And now he comes out to testify? What the hell! I paid my affiliation fees normally back then!”

This is the issue of project affiliation. If strictly followed by legal regulations, affiliation is strictly prohibited.

However, anyone in the construction industry knows that there are far too many affiliations.

If you don't have the corresponding qualifications but want to do a project, you can only find a qualified company to affiliate with.

Cases of disputes arising from affiliation are even more numerous.

After all, legally speaking, the affiliated company is the contractor stipulated in the contract. The money must pass through the company's account before it can be given to the actual construction workers below.

Then you can imagine how chaotic it is in practice. Project payments are generally not small sums, and every extra day they stay in the company's account means another day's interest.

In short, in this regard, let alone ordinary people, even many people who have worked in the industry for many years find it troublesome.

Moreover, in practice, many affiliations are done in the form of subcontracting, and there is a great deal of confusion between the two situations.

Zhou Yun smiled upon hearing this and said, “Don't worry, Old Luo. Let me ask you a question. You couldn't find the boss of that Kangde Company for so many years before.”

“And now, has that boss appeared?”

Hmm… huh?

Luo Hongxuan nodded blankly: “It seems, it seems so.”

Luo Hongxuan had indeed searched for a long time. He knew it would be difficult to win his lawsuit.

So, normally, Kangde Company would have to step forward to ask the education department for money, and then give it to him after receiving it.

Or, even if the other party didn't come out to ask for money, they would give him the previously signed construction contracts and other materials.

This way, with the affiliation cooperation agreement and the information on the expenses he paid during the actual construction, he could prove that he was the actual constructor and how much money he could claim.

Then he could sue the education department based on the de facto contract.

Alternatively, he could directly sue Kangde Company, as there was a cooperation agreement between them, which is usually an outsourcing agreement.

But unfortunately, Kangde Company was directly deregistered, and he couldn't even find the person.

“Then that’s it. Look, now there are three parties in total: you are the actual constructor, the boss, whoever he is, is the contractor, and the education department is the client. Now they are all here.”

“Just wait, this case is very interesting,” Zhou Yun said with a smile.

After the appellant finished their statement, the Presiding Judge immediately said, “Please let the appellee respond.”

Zhou Yun looked at the lawyer opposite who had been staring at him, and then said, “The first-instance Court’s judgment has clear and accurate facts, and the application of law is correct. I request the Court to dismiss the opposing party’s appeal.”

Huh? The Presiding Judge, who had prepared for a lengthy speech from Zhou Yun, was stunned. Is that all?

Even Yue Xialan herself was a bit bewildered. Zhou Yun… Zhou Yun actually just said such a cliché?

They had, of course, read Zhou Yun’s statement of defense, and it indeed contained only that single sentence, but they hadn't expected him to actually say just that!

A statement of defense is different from evidence. If you don't submit evidence within the evidentiary period, then any evidence submitted later will be considered a surprise attack, and a strict judge might even directly rule your evidence invalid.

But a statement of defense is different.

Article 128 of the Civil Procedure Law stipulates: The People's Court shall send a copy of the complaint to the defendant within five days from the date of filing the case, and the defendant shall submit a statement of defense within fifteen days from the date of receipt.

However, there is another sentence after Article 128: If the defendant fails to submit a statement of defense, it shall not affect the People's Court's trial.

See? So in reality, many lawyers or prominent barristers rarely submit statements of defense.

Most of those who do submit statements of defense are parties who haven't hired a lawyer, or some lawyers who have just started practicing.

So, to put it plainly, parties who don't quite understand the law and lawyers who have just started practicing are the most compliant. As lawyers gradually become seasoned, they do whatever is convenient.

Moreover, some senior lawyers would even ridicule young lawyers, believing that young lawyers who adhere to written defenses are incompetent and lack on-the-spot improvisation skills, and so on…

If you have watched trial videos, you should know that often judges will say something like, if all your defense content is in the written statement of defense, then you don't need to say it; just submit it directly.

Or, another common one is, don't say it, just submit a written document to me after the trial…

It's all about convenience. No matter what industry, it's generally like this; after doing something for a long time, people start looking for shortcuts.

Even in hospitals, there's a joke circulating: the higher the title, the larger the sterile field.

When you're an intern, even your gaze is contaminated…

But Zhou Yun was different. He always submitted statements of defense, and what he said in his statement of defense was what he intended to say in his defense.

So, litigating against him was actually very simple.

Yue Xialan looked down at her prepared materials. She had truly prepared a lot for this case.

The point he raised could be discussed from many angles.

For example, procedural issues: according to regulations, after an applicant submits an application, the administrative agency should solicit opinions.

But here, they only solicited opinions after the administrative litigation began, which clearly indicates a procedural problem.

So, he had anticipated that Zhou Yun would raise procedural issues, and his countermeasure was “procedural flaws.”

It must be said, the term “procedural flaws” is truly a great invention.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate once issued a document complaining that procedural illegality is procedural illegality. The law stipulates two types: procedural illegality and minor illegality.

As a result, a “procedural flaw” was concocted, making it feel instantly less severe than illegality.

Anyway, Yue Xialan's prepared argument was that although the opinion solicitation was done during the administrative litigation, the procedural flaw does not affect the outcome.

He also believed there was a high probability that the Court would adopt this argument.

However, he didn't expect to have done so much preparation, only for the other party to say nothing, like punching the air.

Never mind, if he doesn't speak, he doesn't speak. Let's see what he can do when he loses the case!

After the statements concluded, it was quickly time for presentation and cross-examination of evidence, with the appellant presenting first.

“Evidence two: The ‘Letter of Disagreement with Information Disclosure’ issued by Gao Yewei, the original shareholder of Kangde Company.”

“This opinion letter proves that disclosing project-related information may harm the legitimate rights and interests of Gao Yewei, the original shareholder of the company.”

Once the evidence was presented, Zhou Yun immediately began cross-examining.

“The authenticity, legality, and relevance of the evidence submitted by the appellant are all acknowledged.”

Hmm? Yue Xialan frowned, but this was also normal, as there was indeed no way to challenge these pieces of evidence.

Normally, lawyers cross-examine relevance the most, but this evidence perfectly complies with the provisions of the Regulations on the Disclosure of Government Information.

However, this confused Yue Xialan. The defense only consisted of one sentence, and he acknowledged all the evidence during cross-examination. Is he just giving up?!

But at this moment, he was not in a position to say anything.

On the other hand, Director Xie and his two companions were growing increasingly excited. See? It's still necessary to invite outside monks… No, these prominent lawyers from the Magic City are truly impressive.

Look at Zhou Yun opposite. During the first instance, he was so arrogant, saying that they hadn't even understood the law and that their arguments were absurd.

And now? Go on, keep talking! Nothing left to say, is there?

Luo Hongxuan was also a bit puzzled, but he still chose to trust Zhou Yun.

He believed that Lawyer Zhou must have a deeper meaning in doing this; he just couldn't understand it yet.