Letters

'Hidden rule' a blot on courts

A scandal was exposed a few days agoin which a judge in a court in Weifang, Shandong province, asked a plaintiff to pay 19,000 yuan as "fees for handling the case". Since the plaintiff had filmed the episode, the court had to return the "fees".

The Weifang scandal is not an isolated case. Courts in some places usually charge litigants 10 percent of the amount involved in the case as "contribution". This has become a "hidden rule" in the judicial system.