The congress in this capital of Northeast China's Liaoning Province approved yesterday the Intermediate People's Court's report on its plan for rectification and its 2001 work agenda.

The session was held solely to review the court's report. The rejection of the court's report in the prior session in February marked the first time a court's work report had been rejected by deputies of any people's congress.

Deputies complained at that session that corruption, unfair judgments, poor leadership and inadequate judgment enforcement tainted the court's work.

After the humiliation of that rejection, the court began a reform process in May. "The court leaders should bear the most responsibility," said Ding Renshu, acting president of the court.

Three former top court officials - ex-President Jia Yongxiang, Jiao Meigui and Liang Fuquan - are suspected of involvement in corruption, damaging the court's credibility.

A total of 27 judges and bailiffs have been punished for illegal judgments and violations of discipline enforcement in recent months.

The court has heard 4,624 cases so far this year, far higher than in past years, officials said.

"The rectification and reform in the court has injected the sense of responsibility into everybody in the court," said a court official surnamed Zhang.

Deputies of the local people's congress remarked that the court still has a long way to go in solving many problems.

Deputy Cui Wenxin said the local legislature will play a bigger role in supervising the court work.

(China Daily 08/10/2001)