Special relationship between some lawyers and judges that negatively affect judicial justice have come under heavy fire at the ongoing annual session of China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC).

Judicial justice represents the base line for social justice, but when judges take bribe money from lawyers working for the parties involved in lawsuits, the dignity of law and authority of justice eroded and tarnished, said Li Guoguang, a NPC deputy and vice president of the Supreme People's Court.

"Judges should guard against all temptations, especially when working alone," Li told Xinhua in an interview Tuesday.

In fact, however, judges earn 10 times as less as lawyers do a year, and some of them failed to keep their professional moral and bowed before bribes offered by some lawyers with interior motives, said the president of the higher court of a northeastern province, who declined to be named.

Scandals involving judges have been reported time and again in China over recent years. In one of the most notorious cases, 13 judges of the Wuhan City Intermediate People's Court, in central Hubei Province, including two vice-presidents and some deputy presiding judges, were found to have taken more than 4 million yuan (US$480,000) of bribe early last year. In addition, another nine judges received disciplinary punishment and 30 middle-level officials were transferred to other minor posts.

Xu Zhihui, a NPC deputy who serves in a Beijing-based law firm, feels frustrated and helpless with the practice that some litigants like to ask the lawyers they hire whether they are on good terms with judges who are going to hear their cases, in a hope that the good relationship between lawyers and judges can have outcome in their favor.

As a matter of fact, majority of China's 102,000 professional lawyers are loyal to their career ethics while most of the 200,000-plus judges are clean and honest, Xu said.

"To guard against and prevent the collusion of a small number of judges and lawyers, we should enhance the collective moral awareness of society and continue to keep improving related laws and regulations," said the lawyer.

Last year, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice released jointly a series of regulations to standardize the deeds of lawyers and judges, including a ban on the practice of secret meeting between lawyers and judges.

However, Chief Justice Xiao Yang of the Supreme People's Court acknowledges to standardize the lawyer-judge relations, apart from abiding by the country's existing regulations.

"We must place equal emphasis on discipline and self-discipline and on supervision and penalty," said Xiao, also president of the Supreme People's Court.

He calls on judges around China to treasure their power in their hands and asks courts at all levels to further improve the working and living conditions for judges.

He also calls for the establishment of an independent judicial operation mechanism to minimize the unfair deals between lawyers and judges, and welcomes lawyers and the entire society to supervise the work of judges.

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2005)