Four judges were sacked in early August after a whistleblower revealed what happened after they went out to dine with a group of building contractors. The four, according to the South China Morning Post, adjourned to a night club where they drank and then went off to seek the company of prostitutes. Several Chinese newspapers have reported on the case, variously lamenting the corruption of the judiciary, asking for further investigations into the conduct of judges and looking at the corruption of the public sector as a whole. 

Public confidence

The South China Morning Post quotes the People's Daily as saying: 'The respect granted to legal verdicts depends on the public's confidence in the integrity and independence of judges. When judges break laws, it has a worse impact than when others do.'