[JURIST] The Communist Party of China (CPC) revoked the membership [press release] of the former vice-president of the Supreme People's Court on Friday, following a graft and corruption investigation. Huang Songyou, who was originally appointed to the Supreme People's Court in 2002, allegedly took bribes to influence cases and used the profits to live a "corrupt life" [Xinhua news report]. He was also fired [China Daily report] from his official position in the court, and his case has been turned over to prosecutors. Huang is just one in a line of communist leaders who have been thrown out of the party for corruption in a new campaign by the government [AFP report].

Huang was removed [JURIST report] from his position as vice president of the court in October by a vote of the legislators. He was noted for promoting judicial enforcement of constitutional rights, writing [text, PDF] in a 2001 opinion that the Supreme People's Court's had reached a milestone in ruling that citizens' basic constitutional rights should be protected. In 2004, Huang said changes to China's Criminal Procedure Law [JURIST report] were needed because China had adopted a human rights clause in its constitution.