BEIJING - Chief justice Zhou Qiang on Thursday called for stricter discipline among judges following a scandal involving four judges from Shanghai.

Four senior judges were removed from the Shanghai Municipal Higher People's Court's judicial committee over their alleged hiring of prostitutes at a nightclub in early August.

Zhou, president of the Supreme People's Court, made the remarks at a national teleconference on discipline construction.

"The court is ashamed at the judges' disciplinary violations," Zhou said.

Zhou said people's courts at all levels should be aware of problems concerning discipline, corruption and judicial capacity.

He called for people's courts at all levels to manage their judges more strictly and set up a long-term mechanism for enhanced discipline construction.