Syrian President Bashar Assad has sacked 81 judges and increased wages for the profession as part of a reform program for the legal system, an official daily reported. Ath-Thawra said that the president ordered a 25-percent increase in the wages of judges and improved tax and insurance conditions for the profession, but it did not identify those faced with dismissal nor give a reason.The measures - announced after a Cabinet meeting on Monday chaired by Assad to discuss reforms of the judiciary - are aimed at improving the standard of living of judges and speeding up legal reforms, the paper said. France last year granted aid to Syria to reform its judiciary, which has been widely criticized for being undermined by corruption. But human rights activist and lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, in a statement, criticized the latest moves as "a violation of the Constitution, ... which underlines the independence of the judiciary with the president as its guarantor."