Dear Mr Justice Flood and Mr Justice Moriarty,
I hope you are enjoying the summer holidays after all your hard work at the payments-to-politicians and planning tribunals in Dublin Castle during the year.
I thought I would fill you in on the situation in China, where unorthodox payments are rampant at every level of government, the police, judiciary and military.
To give you some indication, 8,500 corruption cases were investigated in China in the first five months of this year alone, according to official figures. So widespread is graft here that it is regarded as one of the biggest political and economic challenges facing China as it continues to modernise and develop. Corruption is estimated at between 13 and 16 per cent of China's GDP.
Tribunals of Inquiry do not feature in China and procedures are very different to those in Ireland. For a start, once a suspect has been exposed, the authorities tend to try them quickly in a judicial system not renowned for worrying too much about the burden of proof.
It is also worth mentioning that punishment in more serious graft cases is execution. China's most high-profile corruption and smuggling trial, involving millions of dollars, was held in the southern port city of Xiamen last year. The case riveted the nation for months with tales of money, sex, power and illicit video-taping. So far, there have been 14 death sentences, 12 life sentences and 58 prison sentences on foot of it.
The notorious red-brick, seven-storey building where Xiamen officials masterminded this corruption racket, (known as the "Red Building"), opens to the public today as a monument to the struggle against corruption. An exhibition of the investigation will open in the city.
A new case to rival that of Xiamen has emerged in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province. Two weeks ago, the city's former mayor, Mr Mu Suixin, was charged with corruption. He faces the death penalty if found guilty.
It is alleged that Mr Mu took bribes in the form of expensive watches, gold Buddha statues and cash. He is unable to account for assets worth more than £2 million. Police are talking to Mr Mu's current and former wives. Sixteen other officials, including finance and tax agents, are being investigated in the Shenyang case.
The introduction of a whistle-blower system encouraging the public to tip off the authorities on suspected graft has helped lead to convictions. Indeed, 80 per cent of all corruption cases handled are as a result of tip-offs.
There have been some other developments in the last few months. In June, the authorities in Hunan Province in Central China started China's first anti-corruption TV channel, broadcasting on investigations against corrupt officials. Several films and TV series in China with anti-corruption themes are being produced.
The Chinese have also introduced their very own version of the "tax amnesty". Corrupt officials in eight Chinese cities can now return their ill-gotten gains anonymously through special "581" bank accounts. (The term "581" was derived from the pronunciation of the three numbers in the dialect of the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, as together they sound like "I do not want".)
Ningbo was the first city to initiate this scheme in April after more than 100 of its officials, including the city's former Communist Party secretary, two vice-mayors and four local bank governors were caught accepting bribes.
Within 10 days of being opened, 37 unnamed people had lodged a total of $33,000 in Ningbo.
For all this anti-graft activity, statistics on the punishment of government officials are not encouraging. The chances of senior officials getting caught and punished is small. One recent survey put the chances at no more than one in 10. The conviction rate is one in five for officials at county level.
Last Monday, at an anti-graft conference in Beijing which was televised all over China, the Minister of Personnel, Mr Zhang Xuezhong, warned that bribery, forgery and other corrupt practices in the recruitment and promotion of government and Communist Party officials had to be eradicated.
During the conference, one case was outlined where the head of a local government office employed 15 relatives between 1993 and 1998.
A further 117 people connected to him found government employment, despite the fact that they did not have the necessary qualifications.
President Jiang Zemin has frequently stated that widespread corruption in his country has the potential to undermine people's faith in the Communist Party.
How often, Mr Justices, do you hear that the revelations you are presiding over at Dublin Castle are also damaging people's trust and faith in democracy?
Do enjoy the rest of your holidays. Keep up the good work and when things are getting tough - and that money trail seems never-ending - spare a thought for those left with the task of cleaning up the corrupt habits of thousands of people in positions of power in a country of 1.2 billion people.
Who knows, when the tribunals eventually end, there may be a job for you over here.
Yours etc,
Miriam Donohoe
miriamd@163bj.com