Four months after the Supreme People's Court (SPC) set up hotlines for whistle-blowers as part of its crackdown on corruption in the country's judiciary, 357 court staff have been investigated for suspected violations, SPC sources said yesterday.

Of those scrutinized, 85 court employees were identified as violators - with 43 of those facing prosecution, 24 handed disciplinary punishment and 18 removed from their posts in trials and enforcement, said He Xin, the SPC director-general of the supervision department.

Another 168 court employees have been cleared of any wrongdoing and an additional 104 remain under investigation, He said.