人民法院通过行使国家审判职能来惩罚犯罪、制裁违法、保护公民合法权益、促进经济发展和维护社会稳定。这些职能主要通过公正裁判每一个案件来体现,而案件处理是否公正,则又由法官素质所决定。从这个意义上讲,没有一支廉洁、高素质法官队伍,就难以确保司法公正,就难以树立法治权威,也就难以完成新世纪人民法院在依法治国中所担负的重任。 People’s courts punish crimes, sanction violations of law, protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, promote economic development and maintain social stability by exercising the state trial function. These functions are mainly manifested through impartial adjudication of each case, and whether the handling of the case is fair or not is determined by the quality of the judge. In this sense, without an honest and highly qualified team of judges, it will be difficult to ensure judicial fairness and it will be difficult to establish the authority of the rule of law. It will also be very hard to accomplish the important task the people’s court of the People’s Republic of China has to shoulder in administering the country by law in the new century.