A Judge's Day in Court

Huang Songyou could not suppress the twinge of surprise at his sentence announcement by a local court in Hebei Province: life in prison.  Huang was convicted on January 19 over abuse of power and the embezzlement of 5 million yuan. The highest-ranking judicial official ever convicted since People's Republic of China's founding in 1949, Huang's story began from humble beginnings. 

Earning the moniker, the "scholarly judge" for his voluminous publications in judiciary journals, the former vice president of the Supreme Court was represented by old acquaintances, Long Zongzhi, professor at the Sichuan University School of Law and Gao Cheng, a Beijing Kangda Law Firm lawyer.