Twenty-six grand justices were certified yesterday in Beijing, bringing the total number of grand justices to 49.

The awardees included all the grand justices named by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) since March 2002.

The first-grade grand justices are Cao Jianming, the vice-president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), and Su Yong, president of the People's Liberation Army Military Court.

Among the second-grade grand justices are several vice-presidents of the SPC, such as Huang Songyou, Jiang Bixin, Xi Xiaoming and Xiong Xuanguo, and members of the SPC's judicial committee.

Several presidents of provincial high courts also became second-grade grand justices, such as those from Tianjin, Shanghai, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, Qinghai, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The SPC named the first 41 grand justices back in 2002, after the NPC modified the Judges Law the year before. Some of those judges have since retired, but retain their titles.

According to the law, which was enacted in 1995, there are 12 levels of judges, ranging from chief justice, grand justice and senior judges down to regular judges.

There are two levels for grand justices, four levels for senior judges and five levels for basic judges.

"The system for ranking judges has helped make them more professional, improved the quality and efficiency of the judicial branch and promoted the rule of law," Chief Justice Xiao Yang said yesterday.

"It is not enough for any nation or society to achieve justice merely through constitutions and laws," he said.

"Only when laws are enforced by judges with a sense of justice will the concept of all men being equal in the eyes of the law come to be a reality. Only then will social contradictions be solved and evil be prevented and punished."

Unlike their counterparts overseas, Chinese grand justices are both judges and administrative leaders.

"Because they wield both judicial and administrative power, they must be loyal to the idea of building a nation ruled by law. Their working spirits, styles and leadership significantly influence the development and achievements of the overall judicial system."

Xiao, a 69-year-old who has been serving as chief justice since 1998, called on the new grand justices to help build a fair, efficient and authoritative socialist judicial system.

In his presentation after being named an SPC vice-president, Xi Xiaoming said he would be both scrupulous and conscientious in meeting challenges as new types of cases emerge and laws and regulations change.

(China Daily December 25, 2007)