Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1601 How about letting him sue first

Tony Wong looks young, but he is actually not that old. He is only in his thirties. As Hong Kong’s elites are good at dressing up, with the help of a fashion consultant, he actually looks like he is in his twenties.

After some communication, Zhou Zhi learned that Tony Huang had been a law major before, but he started collecting antiques halfway because of his interest in ancient artworks. During his study abroad, he met Lin Wanqiu and accumulated a lot of knowledge about antiques. Later, when Lin Wanqiu went to China Guardian, she brought him over and he worked as a legal consultant for China Guardian for several years. He went to Fu-Tsing Law Firm only after he passed the bar exam. However, collectors in Hong Kong Island usually like to find him for lawsuits involving ancient artworks. He can be said to have become an expert halfway through his career.

For Tony Huang, the issue is not yet at the point where it can be resolved through legal action. The reason is simple: there is insufficient evidence.

It's not just that there is insufficient evidence. Even from filing a case to solving the case, to the interrogation of the suspect, conviction, etc., not only does the information need to be fully prepared, but even the procedures need to be rigorous. This is because the legal system of Hong Kong Island is quite different from that of the mainland. It is very difficult to recover the samurai statue through litigation without being well prepared.

When Zhou Zhi proposed to move the battlefield to the United States and asked Tony Huang for his opinion, Tony Huang thought about it for a moment and seemed relieved: "This is really a good idea."

"Please tell me more about this, Mr. Huang." Liang Pingyi said politely, "So that I can report to my superiors."

"That's right. As of now, Lu Lirong is preparing to send the warrior statue to Christie's in the United States for auction." Tony Huang said, "If we file an emergency preservation lawsuit in Hong Kong Island, the time for procedural preparation will be very tight, and the evidence will not be sufficient. In this case, we will not have much chance of winning."

"Once you lose the case, your chances of winning will become even slimmer if you want to sue again in the United States." Tony Huang seemed to be a different person when talking about his professionalism: "From a legal professional perspective, I still believe in fighting and winning the case, so in this sense, I think Mr. Zhou's suggestion is very feasible."

"But if we want to file a lawsuit in the United States, it involves a lot of international laws, several UNESCO conventions, the police cooperation agreement between China and the United States, and local laws in the United States. As you know, the US legal system is also a complex framework."

"So what?" Zhou Zhi found it difficult to talk to the lawyer and couldn't get to the point for a long time: "What should we do?"

"First, we need to prepare relevant legal documents in China. At least, we need to prepare relevant documents and evidence materials in accordance with the provisions of UNESCO." Tony Huang picked up a piece of paper and a pen and started writing. "At least it needs to include the theft site investigation report, photos, police case report, and domestic legal provisions related to the case. Oh, by the way, according to the recent new classification of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, the time point when the government announced Wang Chuzhi's tomb as a cultural heritage site is also the fundamental basis for the government to claim legal rights."

"What do you mean?" Zhou Zhi was a little confused.

"This involves the establishment of interest rights. I think it will be easier to understand if I explain it this way. If a building is owned by a private person, then under international law, the state cannot, as a legal entity, request protection for the building. If the ownership of the building is infringed, the owner can only request the local police to initiate an investigation. If the case involves a criminal case and involves transnational circumstances, the local police will request Interpol, which will forward the investigation request to the cooperating country, which will then assist in completing the investigation."

"What would have happened if the state had not declared Wang Chuzhi's tomb a protected site?"

"This question is quite complicated." Tony Huang frowned and said, "In many countries, the legal ownership is unclear, so the lawsuit cannot proceed from the beginning."

"However, Article 5 of your country's Cultural Relics Protection Law has very clear provisions on property rights in this regard: All cultural relics remaining underground, in inland waters and territorial waters within the territory of the People's Republic of China belong to the state. Ancient cultural sites, ancient tombs, and grotto temples belong to the state. Immovable cultural relics such as memorial buildings, ancient buildings, stone carvings, murals, and representative modern and contemporary buildings designated for protection by the state belong to the state, unless otherwise provided by the state. The ownership of state-owned immovable cultural relics shall not be changed due to changes in the ownership or use rights of the land to which they are attached." "Oh..." Zhou Zhi and Liang Pingyi looked at each other and were both impressed by Tony Huang's professional level. Especially after hearing Tony Huang recite that the stone carvings and murals belonged to the state, they knew that there would be no problem in prosecuting these cultural relics in the legal sense of China.

Tony Huang said: "The reason why we need to prepare the time node data for the announcement of Wang Chuzhi's tomb as a cultural relic protection unit in China is actually to echo the limiting condition of "unless otherwise stipulated by the state" in this article, stating that there are no exceptions and it belongs to the state."

"It's really rigorous." Zhou Zhi was full of admiration. This professional matter should be left to professionals.

"I would also like to remind you that the correctness of judicial procedures is very important in overseas litigation. If we want to file a lawsuit in the United States, we can only rely on the legal framework of the United States. Therefore, there are many things that need to be paid attention to, including the investigation of the chain of evidence and the interrogation of personnel."

"Tony, please write it down for us." Zhou Zhi nodded: "We will fax it to China later."

"Well," Tony Huang had been working non-stop while chatting with Zhou Zhi, and soon he had numbered the list to more than 30 digits: "I'll just add a few more items and it will be done."

Zhou Zhi couldn't help but mutter to himself: "So many..."

"This is just preliminary." Tony Huang said, "We also have to prepare for Hong Kong Island. We can't expect things to develop as we wish. Now we have to make enough gestures and try to delay Lu Lirong's time to move the warrior statue."

"Yes, yes, you are right." Zhou Zhi agreed: "In fact, I have another idea. What do you think, let Lu Lirong sue us?"

After that, he whispered his plan in Tony Huang's ear.

"I find that Mr. Zhou's ideas are always..." Tony Huang looked Zhou Zhi up and down for a while, as if he wanted to get to know him again: "However, Hong Kong Island still loves to sue people for defamation. Mr. Zhou's idea may really have hope..."

Zhou Zhi showed a meaningful smile on his face: "That's even better, let's add this one..."

The next day, all major media outlets in Hong Kong suddenly reprinted a piece of news - according to the Huaying Daily, Hong Kong art dealer Lu was suspected of smuggling a national treasure-level cultural relic, a warrior relief statue from the tomb of Wang Chuzhi of the Five Dynasties, which attracted domestic efforts to recover it. Lu was eager to sell the statue and had entrusted it to Christie's auction house in the United States for auction.

At the same time, there are rumors that Lu believes that Huaying Newspaper’s move has seriously damaged Lu’s reputation in the auction house, and Lu has already started to prepare to sue Huaying Newspaper for defamation...