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)