Part of the judgment provided by the plaintiff's lawyer
Known as "the first case of smoking ban in public places", Beijing Railway Transport Court recently ruled that the defendant China Railway Harbin Bureau Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Railway Harbin Bureau Company") revoked the smoking area sign and smoking equipment of K 130 1 train.
The judgment obtained by the reporter from the plaintiff's lawyer on June 25 showed that the court held that, first of all, the defendant had delivered the plaintiff to the destination on time and safely, and completed the main contractual obligations.
However, the judgment pointed out that the behavior of China Railway Harbin Bureau Company in setting up smoking areas and placing smoking appliances on trains still violated the carrier's contractual obligations, and acquiescing in smoking would lead to a decline in the environmental quality in the car and affect the riding environment.
The court held that according to Article 10 of the Regulations on Railway Passenger Transport, the carrier was required to ensure and maintain a good transportation environment.
In addition, China Railway Harbin Bureau Company has clearly recorded in the safety notice posted in the car that "smoking is prohibited in all parts of the train", indicating that there is no designated smoking area in the train and smoking is prohibited in the whole car (including the junction of carriages).
The China Railway Harbin Bureau cited the "Railway Passenger Transport Service Quality Standard" and other provisions as the basis for the legality of setting up smoking areas in trains. The court held that the reasons were insufficient and did not support it.
In addition, the judgment shows that although this case is not a public interest litigation, it contains public interests and private interests. China Railway Harbin Bureau Company's behavior of setting up smoking areas and placing smoking utensils will not only affect the plaintiff's travel environment and even his health, but also have adverse effects on all passengers who will take this train in the future.
In view of the above reasons, the court ruled that the Harbin Bureau of China Railway canceled all smoking areas of trains and removed smoking utensils.
Considering the economic cost of removing smoking utensils and the possible damage to the facilities of the carriage itself, the court allowed the defendant to take flexible measures such as blocking smoking utensils, blocking and posting seals.
"Smoking is the freedom and rights of smokers, but freedom and rights are not absolute, not without boundaries. Compared with outdoor public places, trains are relatively closed public spaces. " The verdict has been written.
The court held that when rights conflict, it is necessary to consider the status of rights in the legal value system. In this case, the passenger's right to health should be higher than the smoker's right to smoke.
Judicial adjudication needs to balance social interests by restricting individual freedom and rights.
In addition, the suppressed rights and interests can be obtained from alternative channels. Although the defendant implemented some tobacco control measures by posting safety instructions, the court hoped that the defendant could take more effective measures to enable the public to travel in a better environment.
The newspaper previously reported that on June 9, 2007, Li Yan (pseudonym), a prospective freshman, left Beijing for Tianjin on the K 130 1 train operated by Harbin Bureau of China Railway, and bought an air-conditioned soft sleeper with a fare of 102.5 yuan. During the ride, Li Yan found that there were train attendants and passengers smoking in the carriage, and there was also a smoking place at the junction of the carriage, and there were smoking utensils such as ashtrays. At the same time, there is also a "safety notice" prohibiting smoking in the carriage.
Li Yan subsequently sued China Railway Harbin Bureau Company, requesting the court to award the defendant compensation for the ticket purchase amount of 102.5 yuan and the lawyer's agency fee of 3,000 yuan; Compensation for mental damage 1 yuan and apologize; K 130 1 Cancel the smoking area and remove smoking utensils in the train, and K 130 1 No smoking in the train.
The court rejected the plaintiff's other claims except canceling the smoking area in the car and removing cigarettes.