Judicial role against graft

The Supreme People's Court has conclud- ed 138,000 cases that involved corruption in the past five years, and 143,000 people have been sentenced to prison, according to the report the SPC president delivered to the ongoing National People's Congress session on Sunday.

Over the same period, the total number of corruption cases the Supreme People's Procuratorate investigated was more than 160,000, involving more than 210,000 people, according to the SPP's report to the NPC. Of the 13,173 government officials above county magistrate level that were investigated, 30 were provincial governor level and 950 bureau chief level.

Such figures should counter any impression people might have had that the government has been merely paying lip service to the fight against corruption. They should act as a shot in the arm, boosting public confidence in the effectiveness of the crackdown on corruption.

When we compare the figures with the number of corrupt officials that have been laid bare online, can we still point accusatory fingers at the judicial watchdogs for their inadequate efforts.

True, the Internet has become an effective channel for tipsters to post online pictures and video clips as evidence of an individual's malpractices. Such clues can result in the cracking of corruption cases and the apprehension of corrupt elements.

But, of course, the 100 percent accuracy shown by those who have targeted corrupt officials online in the past several months should serve as a reminder to watchdogs, the prosecutors in particular, that combining their own efforts with those of the public will be even more effective in fighting corruption.

Yet whatever degree of help online efforts extend to the fight against corruption, the rule of law must play the leading role.

That explains why it is important for the SPC and SPP to receive people's supervision, rectify their work accordingly and eliminate the bad elements within judicial workers.

Statistics show that the number of complaints about irregularities and offenses judicial workers have committed has dropped from 27,958 in 2009 to 15,650 in 2012.

This is where we see the hope that the fight against corruption and the rule of law will prevail.

(China Daily 03/11/2013 page9)