Top court acts to clean up judicial system

The country's top court has issued a guideline aimed at tackling judicial corruption by requiring every court to strictly follow the letter of the law when hearing cases involving allegations of graft by government officials.

The guideline, published on Tuesday in a statement by the Supreme People's Court, sets out a five-year plan to prevent corruption in the courts, establish rules for hearing graft cases and improve international cooperation in the cleanup campaign.

Under the guideline, all grassroots courts are required to try cases involving government officers accused of abusing their power, corruption or dereliction of duty in strict accordance with the law. They must also pay particular attention to cases involving allegations of bribery by businessmen.