Choosing between saving your girlfriend or mother from a burning building is a moral quandary most would not expect to encounter in their day-to-day lives.
But, if you’re a Chinese judge, you’re expected to know the correct answer.
According to Above the Law, that questions was on this year’s National Judicial Examination - essentially the bar exam for Chinese judges.
So what is the correct answer? The Chinese
Ministry of Justice posted it recently. From BBC:
“[E]xam writers are duty-bound to save their mothers. It would be a “crime of non-action” to choose romantic love over filial duty.”
That is in contrast to our common law system, where we generally don’t criminally punish people for a failure to act or omission.
