Top judge vows ethics lessons

2009-3-11  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

CHINA'S top judge said yesterday that the Supreme People's Court will "improve education on work ethics" for the judiciary as a way to weed out corruption in the court.

Chief Judge Wang Shengjun said judicial corruption has seriously damaged the credibility of the country's judicial system and resulted in "very bad" social consequences.

"Some judges have poor work ethics. A handful of them resort to fraudulent practices for personal gain, pervert justice for bribes and live a dissolute lifestyle," he said in delivering a work report to the annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing.

A total of 712 workers from courts throughout China were investigated and punished for breaking laws or discipline rules in 2008, Wang said. Among them, 105 faced criminal charges.

Another 258 from prosecutors offices across China were investigated and punished, among whom 24 were prosecuted, according to a report by Prosecutor-General Cao Jianming.

Among those who got in trouble was Huang Songyou, former vice president of the SPC. Huang, 51, was removed from his post.

"Huang Songyou is the first chief judge who has been removed for suspected law and discipline violations in the history of the SPC," said Shen Deyong, executive vice president of the supreme court.

"His case is an exceptional one, but it is by no means an accident," Shen said. Huang's case is still being investigated.