The Supreme Court's provisions
Li and her fellow support group members have lobbied dozens of deputies in the national people's congress, lawyers and women's organizations to revise Article 24. But their effort has met with little success so far.
Members of the Article 24 Victim Support Group lobbied various organizations. /Photo provided by the Article 24 Victim Support Group
China's Supreme Court issued two additions to Article 24 in late February. The court specified that debt isn't legally protected if it is fake or the proceeds were used for gambling, drug consumption or other illegal activities. Legal professionals say these additions provide little help, because fake or illegal debts have never been protected by law.
"We know that the fundamental problem of Article 24 is its definition of joint debt and burden of proof," said You Zhilong, director of the Family Law Committee of the Guangdong Lawyers Association. "The new additions haven't changed any of the rules, so they are useless. The Supreme Court is saying that Article 24 has no problems but judges need to be more careful. This is in fact shifting responsibilities onto judges' shoulders. I think this is also wrong," You said.
"A law should always be based on justice. Any law or judicial interpretation should not make a citizen sink into fear or be burdened with huge debt," You said.
In the meantime, Li and the other support group members continue to write and send their petition files to anyone who might listen.
The women know they face a long road ahead. But they hope that maybe, just maybe, one day their voices will be heard.
