Chinese, Simplified
Facts
In July 2015, instigated by the accused ZHUO Wen, LI Weiwen, the accused in another case, carried two suitcases and arrived at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport by airplane. He entered by selecting the Nothing-to-Declare Channel and declared no item to the Customs. Upon check, customs officers seized 259 turtles from the suitcases carried by LI Weiwen. It was identified that the aforesaid turtles included 12 black pond turtles (Geoclemys under Geoemydidae) and 247 Indian roofed turtles (Kachuga under Geoemydidae), which were all protected rare animals in Appendix I to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the value thereof amounted to 6.475 million Yuan in total.
Judgment
In the trial of first instance, the Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou City of Guangdong Province held that the accused ZHUO Wen ignored the state laws, evaded customs control, and instigated other person to smuggle rare animals whose export and import were prohibited by the State, which constituted the crime of smuggling rare animals with particularly serious circumstances. The court of first instance made a judgment that ZHUO Wen was guilty of smuggling rare animals and should be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of 12 years with confiscation of his personal property of 200,000 Yuan. The Guangdong High People's Court sustained the judgment of first instance.
基本案情
2015年7月，另案被告人李伟文根据被告人卓文的指使携带两个行李箱,乘坐飞机抵达广州白云机场口岸，并选择无申报通道入境，未向海关申报任何物品。海关关员经查验，从李伟文携带的行李箱内查获乌龟259只。经鉴定，上述乌龟分别为地龟科池龟属黑池龟12只、地龟科小棱背龟属印度泛棱背龟247只，均属于受《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》附录I保护的珍贵动物，价值共计647.5万元。
裁判结果
广东省广州市中级人民法院一审认为，被告人卓文无视国家法律，逃避海关监管，指使他人走私国家禁止进出口的珍贵动物入境，其行为已构成走私珍贵动物罪，且情节特别严重。一审法院判决卓文犯走私珍贵动物罪，判处有期徒刑十二年，并处没收个人财产20万元。广东省高级人民法院二审维持一审判决。
Implications
This case is of smuggling of rare animals as listed in the appendix to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Biodiversity is essential to human survival and development and wild fauna and flora species are important components of biodiversity. When the buying stops, the killing can too. Protecting wild fauna and flora is the common responsibility of the entire human race. As the contracting party of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, China should positively perform the international obligations as prescribed in the Convention and severely crack down on criminal offenses of smuggling endangered species. In this case, in violation of the state laws and customs regulations, the accused ZHUO Wen evaded customs control and instigated another person to enter China by illegally carrying rare animals whose export and import were prohibited by the State. The people's court legally determined that the criminal circumstances were particularly serious and that ZHUO Wen was given a criminal penalty, which has demonstrated the steadfast determination of the people's court in legally and severely cracking down on and containing crimes involving wild fauna and flora resources. The trial and judgment of this case have good demonstration effects on educating and warning the public to establish the legal awareness and to voluntarily protect the ecological environment, especially wild fauna and flora resources.
典型意义
本案系走私《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》附录所列珍贵动物的犯罪案件。生物多样性是人类生存和发展的必要条件，野生动植物种是生物多样性的重要组成部分。没有买卖，就没有杀戮。保护野生动植物是全人类的共同责任。我国作为《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》的缔约国，积极履行公约规定的国际义务，严厉打击濒危物种走私违法犯罪行为。本案中，被告人卓文违反国家法律及海关法规，逃避海关监管，指使他人非法携带国家禁止进出口的珍贵动物入境。人民法院依法认定其犯罪情节特别严重，判处刑罚，彰显了人民法院依法严厉打击和遏制破坏野生动植物资源犯罪的坚定决心。本案的审理和判决对于教育警示社会公众树立法律意识，自觉保护生态环境尤其是野生动植物资源，具有较好的示范作用。