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China appeals court upholds life sentence for former supreme court judge

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Hebei Province People's High Court in northern China on Wednesday upheld a life sentence for former vice president of China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) Huang Songyou. Huang was convicted in January of bribery and embezzlement, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Huang is the highest-ranking judge to be charged with corruption since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Between 2005 and 2008, Huang allegedly embezzled 3.9 million yuan (about $574,000 USD) while serving as vice president of the SPC, and he allegedly embezzled 1.2 million yuan (about $175,000 USD) while serving as president of the Intermediate People's Court of Zhanjiang in 1997. Huang's conviction comes amid initiatives by the Communist Party of China (CPC) to fight corruption in the judicial system in order to restore public confidence. In March, the president of the SPC, Wang Shengjun, called for increased efforts to fight corruption in the country's court system. In January, the SPC announced new anti-corruption rules in an effort to increase public confidence in the rule of law. Chinese courts are under the control of the CPC, which announced plans earlier that month to increase oversight of the families of government officials to control corruption.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 18, 2010 (boomark / email).