CARACAS. Oct 9: Venezuelan authorities suspended 122 judges accused of corruption or incompetence Including one who has 46 formal accusations of wrongdoing against him. reports AP.

Authorities said the suspensions Friday represented about 10 per cent of all judges in the oil-rich South American nation, which has been plagued by corruption.

"We are going to protect that fundamental human right of citizens to have a justice system they can believe in and in which they feel respected." said Rene Molina, a member of a special commission which suspended the judges.

The move was part of a "peaceful revolution" being led by President Hugo Chavez to shake up a political and judicial system many say is rotten to the core with corruption and mismanagement.

Payoffs to Venezuelan Judges for favorable rulings are common. Most crimes go unpunished and more than half of the 23,000 inmates in the nation's jails have never been tried in court.

Officials say they are investigating some 4,000 formal accusations of wrongdoing against some of the nation s 1.200 Judges. Many of the allegations have been collecting dust for as long as 15 years in the offices of the National Judges Council that is supposed to investigate them.

The suspensions were pushed through by pressure from a special judicial emergency commission set up by a newly established Constitutional Assembly which is controlled by Chavez supporters.