When the Law Punishes Good Deeds, Who Will Dare to Help Again?

In February this year, a retired professor in his 60s, Mr. Liu, was taking an escalator at Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station in Taipei when a woman in front of him, also in her 60s, suddenly fell. Mr. Liu reached out to try and catch her but failed, and the woman fell to the ground. Afterwards, the woman filed a lawsuit against Mr. Liu for negligent injury. During the investigation, the prosecutor believed Mr. Liu had collided with the woman and did not believe his testimony, refusing to re-examine the surveillance footage or conduct a lie detector test. The woman sought 500,000 NTD in compensation, but negotiations broke down. Mr. Liu was indicted for negligent injury, was deeply affected, and began to doubt whether he should continue to do good deeds. In court at the Taipei District Court, Judge Song Entong shared a similar experience, ultimately choosing to extend a helping hand because he believed in the value of doing good. The two parties eventually reached a settlement for 110,000 NTD. Mr. Liu stated in court that if given the chance again, he would still choose to help the woman and hoped to continue believing in the value of good deeds. This case sparked heated debate, with netizens questioning: "Settling for 110,000 NTD and still having to believe in the value of good deeds?" In fact, Article 175 of the Civil Code stipulates that managers who act to avert an imminent danger to another person's life or body shall not be liable for damages unless they acted with malice or gross negligence. Article 14-2 of the Emergency Medical Treatment Act also incorporates the spirit of "no punishment for saving lives." However, the gap between legal protection and practical application remains the deepest reflection of this case. Besides the greedy, evil, and heartless woman, the biggest problem is the judge and prosecutor🙄 Their logic is the same as mainland China's: 'If you didn't bump into her, why help her?'🙄 The judge even had the nerve to suggest settling with money, which is basically encouraging the trend of malicious lawsuits🙄