徇私枉法

xùnsīwǎngfǎ

idiom #79,723

Meanings

1 to bend the law for personal ends (idiom)
2 to pervert justice for private gain
3 to favor relatives or associates at the law's expense

Characters

to comply with; cater to

private; personal

to twist; pervert

Examples

他因徇私枉法被革职查办。

Tā yīn xùnsīwǎngfǎ bèi gézhí chábàn.

He was dismissed and investigated for perverting the law for personal gain.

法官必须公正，不能徇私枉法。

Fǎguān bìxū gōngzhèng, bùnéng xùnsīwǎngfǎ.

A judge must be impartial and must not bend the law for personal ends.

任何徇私枉法的行为都会受到惩处。

Rènhé xùnsīwǎngfǎ de xíngwéi dōu huì shòudào chéngchǔ.

Any act of perverting the law for private interest will be punished.

Tips

register

Formal/legal register. Appears in court judgments, anti-corruption reports, and news about disciplined officials. In casual speech people just say 走后门 or 包庇.

grammar

Structure: 徇私 (to act for private reasons) + 枉法 (to twist the law). 徇 here means 'to comply with, to submit to' — not the 殉 (to die for) sometimes written in error.

Stroke Order

徇 xùn

私 sī

枉 wǎng

法 fǎ