Changsha Court Reduces Compensation for Death Because of Rural Registration

The Changsha Intermediate People's Court reduced by more than 50 percent the personal injury award to the family of a woman killed in a traffic accident because the woman held a rural hukou (household registration), according to a February 14 Beijing News article.

Cai Youlan died in 2004 as a result of injuries received in a Changsha bus accident. Cai's son sued the municipal transportation company in March 2005, and received an award of 207,000 yuan (US $26,000). On appeal, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court reduced the award to 86,000 yuan (US $11,000). The Beijing News article notes that the court based its reduction of the trial court's award primarily because of Cai's rural hukou status, despite the fact that she had lived in Changsha for 11 years. Article 29 of the 2003 Supreme People's Court's Judicial Interpretation Regarding Compensation Cases for Personal Injuries establishes separate methods of calculating compensation for rural and urban hukou holders based on their earning capacities. This dual method has led to discrimination in other personal injury cases involving rural hukou holders who have lived in urban areas for many years.

The Changsha court award reflects current practice in that many legal rights and public benefits are linked to an individual's hukou status rather than where he or she resides. This practice has helped create a hereditary legal barrier that discriminates against migrants who hold rural hukous. For more information, see the Commission's recent topic paper on the subject, the chart of various national and provincial hukou reforms through the end of 2004 on the Freedom of Residence page of the Commission's Web site, the Freedom of Residence and Travel section of the Commission's 2005 Annual Report, and the corresponding section of the 2004 Annual Report, and the Commission's roundtable on hukou reform.