An exemplary leader on front line of politics and justice

Editor's note: Xiao Yang, the former chief justice of the Supreme People's Court, died of illness in Beijing on Friday. He was 81. China Daily reporter Li Yang comments:

Xiao graduated from the law department of Renmin University of China in 1962, having worked his way up from being a village teacher in his hometown of Heyuan in Guangdong province. He not only witnessed China's fundamental changes, he was also a key part of them.

As a major driver of judicial reform in China after the launch of reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, Xiao initiated the founding of China's anti-corruption system, played a leading role in establishing the country's first anti-graft bureau, supported the introduction of China's first Law on Lawyers and the Prison Law, and prompted reform of the death penalty approval system so that the supreme court has the right to review the death sentence - a crucial measure to prevent and correct any mistrials.