Zhou Qiang (left); Cao Jianming(right)
Chief Justice Zhou Qiang warned against some judges' bureaucracy and misconduct yesterday, when elaborating on problems in China's court system.
Some judges and court staff had been indifferent to litigants and even took bribes and bent the law for personal ends. "People are angry with them," Zhou said as he delivered the work report of the Supreme People's Court.
In June last year, three judges and a court official in Shanghai court were found to have solicited prostitutes after video footage was posted online.
The SPC said they had tarnished the image of the nation's judges and damaged judicial credibility. All four were removed from their posts.
Last month, Liu Yong, an SPC official, was suspected of taking bribes of over 2 million yuan (US$330,000) in exchange for intervening in trials. Liu was expelled from public office. According to Zhou's report, 381 judges and court staff were caught misusing their power and breaking the law, 101 of whom were prosecuted.
Zhou said more effort should be made to ensure the independent exercise of jurisdiction and improve the quality and efficiency of trials.
Ordinary people still found it difficult to lodge and proceed with a lawsuit while, in many cases, court orders were not enforced, he said.
Zhou's report noted that, while the number of lawsuits was increasing, some courts were running short of judges and staff, especially in underdeveloped areas.
Last year, courts at various levels heard more than 14.22 million cases, up 7.4 percent over 2012, and concluded 12.95 million of them, up 4.4 percent.
Zhou said the SPC will push forward reform of the court system and supervise judges' behavior.
The reform will include reducing government influence and improving transparency.
The SPC had issued judicial explanations on newly emerging crimes last year including the spreading of harmful rumors, intentionally inciting unrest and defamation on the Internet, he said.
Last year, Chinese courts punished 1.16 million criminals, Zhou said, with 325,000 of them convicted of felony charges, including murder, robbery, kidnapping, explosions, rape, human trafficking and mafia-style organized crimes.
The work report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, delivered by Procurator-General Cao Jianming, said serious crimes such as sexual assault of minors, drunk driving, attacks on medical workers and drug trafficking had been targeted.
"We have ensured that the death penalty was imposed on a very limited number of people convicted of extremely serious crimes," Cao said.
Cao said prosecutors had intervened 72,370 times over "illegal investigation methods including excessive use of coercive measures, obtaining evidence via illegal means and obtaining confessions through torture."
