Even by the standards of a drug smuggler, this was a big crime. Hall got four more years for trying to dupe the Court of Final Appeal with forged papers to beat a charge of assaulting prison officers. The irony is that if the litigious prisoner had accepted the charge, he could have been free in March. Instead, his forgery, which a judge called well-planned and sophisticated, will keep him in jail for a few more years. He plans to appeal.

Renato Corona

The Philippines' most senior judge is under siege over his ownership of a 3,300 sq ft flat in Manila, for which he paid half the market value, in full and without a mortgage. Records show Corona paid 14.5 million pesos (HK$2.56 million) for the flat in Taguig City, half the going rate for the development. Corona, appointed chief justice in the dying days of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's presidency, is, like her, facing impeachment on corruption charges.