Local courts across China received a total number of 3,995,244 letters, visits and calls of complaints in 2005, down by 5.33 percent year-on-year, and 435,547 of them were against misconducts of judges, the country's top judge said here on Saturday.

"The number of complaints against courts and court staff that had been rising for years began to drop for the first time last year," said Chief Justice and President of the Supreme People's Court Xiao Yang.

With many of the complaints reconsidered by court, 15,867 court decisions had been redressed so far, he said while reporting the work of the supreme court to the ongoing session of the national legislature.

Apart from the tangible efforts of all courts, the consistent anti-corruption drive within the judiciary, the number of law- breaking judges also decreased in 2005.

Last year, 378 judges were found to abuse power for personal interests and 66 were given criminal penalty according to law, 18 percent and 44.07 percent less than the previous year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2006)