China's Chief Justice Xiao Yang Monday blasted judicial corruption
and pledged that crooked judges will be severely punished in the
hope of restoring public confidence in the rule of law.
In a report submitted to the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress, Xiao told the country's top lawmakers that
despite progress in judicial reform, misconduct by judges and
unfair court rulings remain.
"Some judges take bribes, abuse their judicial power and indulge
in loose lifestyles. Some crooked court leaders promote their
allies, causing chronicle corruption in local judicial circles,"
said Xiao.
"Corruption has made an extremely bad impression among the
general public and tarnished the reputation of the courts," said
Xiao, President of Supreme People's Court.
On last Wednesday, Zhang Zimin, a former judge in east China's
Anhui Province, was tried for bribery
involving more than 800,000 yuan (US$101, 265) and for being unable
to account for an income of 580,000 yuan.
The scandal also brought down his predecessor Liu Jiayi, two of
Zhang's former deputies -- Zhu Ya and Wang Jianmin -- and four
subordinate judges in Fuyang court.
But the chief justice did not give exact number of judges under
investigation in the report. The most recent statistics available
shows that 461 judges were probed and punished for graft in
2004.
However, the report did mention that more than 800,000 court
orders nationwide have not been implemented, prompting public
dissatisfaction in the justice system.
Addressing the nearly 200 legislators, Xiao said he will try his
best to reverse current judicial vices in an ongoing three-year
reform, focusing on building an effective mechanism for strict law
enforcement.
"All violators will be severely punished, and in particular
those who break the criminal code," Xiao said.
He said grassroots courts across the country will be pushed to
establish an accountability system for implementing court
orders.
(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2006)