As the trial progresses, Imanishi has gradually understood the opponent's strategy. That is, the opponent has always focused on the presence of the two "I-shaped" iron blocks on the expressway, thus inferring that the Kawamoto Expressway failed to perform maintenance obligations to clear road obstacles in a timely manner.

The key issue in the entire case is: whether there are iron blocks on the road surface can automatically deduce that the Kawamoto Expressway failed to perform its maintenance obligations.

The two are by no means legally equivalent.

Every minute and every hour, a steady stream of vehicles pass through the highway. Especially the G227 section of the highway involved in the case is the main artery for cargo transportation in Tokyo Bay. Every day, there are countless huge container trucks driving on the highway.

However, spills on trucks are absolutely unavoidable.

Therefore, it is inferred that the Kawamoto Expressway has not fulfilled its road maintenance obligations just because of the presence of iron fragments on the road. This is an excessively heavy obligation on the expressway. This is absolutely unreasonable and absurd.

As if he had discovered the other party's flaw in an instant, Imanishi unknowingly felt that the blood all over his body seemed to be boiling. It had been a long time since I had felt this way. After Imanishi changed his career from corporate legal affairs, he worked as a litigation lawyer.

He was once an all-powerful man and once won a lot of major cases. Later, he found it difficult to find an opponent and the court trials were really boring, so he switched to non-litigation. I never expected that such a small case today would be so important.

It rekindled the feeling of invincibility that he had when he was racing through the courtroom.

Imanishi sneered. His body's instinctive reaction was, to a certain extent, a disguised recognition of Beihara's strength.

Imanishi stood up from the defendant's seat: "Chief Judge, I would like to respond to one point. All the evidence just presented by the plaintiff cannot prove that Kawamoto Expressway failed to perform its obligation to clear road obstacles in a timely manner. The existence of uncleared obstacles on the road does not mean that

It means that the Kawamoto Expressway has failed to fulfill its maintenance obligations."

Miyagawa, who was at the plaintiff's table, was happy with Kitahara's defense just now. However, in an instant, he was greatly puzzled when he heard his father's point of view.

Father...why did father come up with such a strange view?

The presence of two "I-shaped" iron blocks on the road is not enough in itself to indicate that Kawamoto Expressway has not fulfilled its cleaning obligations?

Aren't these...the two equivalent?

Miyagawa was so puzzled for a moment that the pen in his hand stopped unconsciously and he sat down blankly.

Imanishi knew that this was an excellent opportunity. Judge Kumagai sitting on the bench had a pro-business attitude. He must make good use of this and turn this into their real advantage!

Imanishi walked to the middle of the court, as if he was about to deliver a major speech. He cleared his throat and said: "President, I hope the court will pay attention to a fact. The G227 section of the expressway involved in the case is an important transportation road in Tokyo Bay.

More than tens of thousands of container trucks enter the highway every day."

"Every moment, container trucks may spill objects and cause obstacles on the road. However, every time the highway is inspected and maintained on the road, at least 1 to 2 lanes must be closed. Therefore, the number of inspections and maintenance on the highway every day

is limited, otherwise the transportation efficiency of the entire highway will be greatly affected."

"Therefore, there are obstacles on the road that have not been cleared, which is an objectively impossible situation for the expressway company to eliminate. Therefore, to prove that Kawamoto Expressway failed to perform maintenance obligations in a timely manner, the evidence provided should not be that there are obstacles on the road. The plaintiff

The evidence that should be submitted should be evidence that Kawamoto Expressway failed to maintain the highway in accordance with national standards."

"In other words, as long as Kawamoto Expressway has maintained the highway in accordance with national standards, even if there are obstacles on the road surface, Kawamoto Expressway should not be held liable. If the expressway company still needs to bear such responsibility, there is no doubt that

The maintenance expenditures of highway companies will increase dramatically. This excessive maintenance obligation will hinder further investment and construction of highways."

Imanishi waved to Onoda in the defendant's seat. Onoda in the plaintiff's seat came out from a pile of documents, walked to the clerk's position, and placed the documents on the table in the middle.

However, I saw that these documents and materials have been classified in an extremely neat and clear way. Various bookends, sticky notes, paper clips, and folders have all organized these messy materials in order, even for a layman.

It is not difficult to browse these materials.

Imanishi looked at the three judges on the trial bench and raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "Chief Judge, these are the records I submitted to the court. These records are "Management Measures for Inspection and Cleaning of the Kawamoto Expressway Pavement in the G227 Expressway" and "G227 Section

Expressway Pavement Inspection Record Form" "G227 Section Expressway Pavement Cleaning Record Form" "G227 Section Expressway Inspection Reconfirmation Form".

"Chief Referee. According to national standards such as "Technical Specifications for Highway Maintenance" and "Technical Specifications for Maintenance of Highway Asphalt Pavement", the maintenance standard for the G227 section of the highway involved in the case is once a day maintenance. According to the documents I just provided to the court, the Kawamoto Expressway has performed

We have conducted daily inspections and cleanings, and have fulfilled our maintenance obligations in accordance with national standards!”

After speaking, a smile appeared on Imanishi's lips, and then he slightly relaxed the muscles in his back that had been tense from delivering legal opinions just now.

Judge Kumagai in the trial court nodded slightly when he heard these words, expressing his approval of Imanishi's legal opinion in an implicit way. Imanishi's discussion just struck a chord with Judge Kumagai's pro-business attitude.

The amount of vehicle traffic on the highway is too large and there are spilled objects on the road surface, which is indeed inevitable.

If excessive maintenance obligations are imposed on highway companies, it will indeed have a negative impact on the highway industry.

Beihara looked at the pile of documents on the secretary's desk, and a smile appeared on his face. The time had come for him to take action. The video he had taken in the nursing center could be taken out.

The reason why I didn't release the video at the beginning of the trial was to wait for the Kawamoto Expressway to jump out on its own and prove that they had performed road maintenance that complied with national standards.

Vivid videos can leave a deeper impression on people than lifeless written materials.

Kitahara smiled slightly, then stood up, "Chief referee, regarding whether the maintenance road of Kawamoto Expressway has been implemented in accordance with national standards, I have a new video material to submit. Please allow it to be played in court."

"Oh?" Judge Kumagai was flipping through the information that Imanishi had just submitted. Hearing Kitahara's words, he couldn't help but put down the paper in his hand, raised his head and asked, "Is this video long?"

"It's not long, only about five minutes. The video was recorded at the maintenance center of the G227 section of the highway involved."

"Okay. This court has decided to allow the plaintiff's newly submitted video to be played in court..."

Video recording?! And it’s about the maintenance center on the G227 section of the highway?! Imanishi suddenly became vigilant.

But I saw Kitahara standing next to the TV screen, with an unpredictable smile on his face, as if he was preparing for a feast next, like a host preparing to entertain guests from afar, and about to present a wonderful program.
Chapter completed!