The rights and interests of people from Taiwan involved in civil cases will be better safeguarded with the introduction of a legal interpretation of documents concerning such cases.

The Supreme People's Court said yesterday when mainland courts send documents to a Taiwan litigant, the documents can be directly transferred to the recipient if he or she happens to be on the mainland.

And if the recipient is not on the mainland, the documents can be delivered to the recipient's lawyers or other designated representatives in the mainland.

If the recipient has a known address in Taiwan, the courts can mail the documents to that address. The documents can also be faxed or e-mailed.

Taiwan courts will also be able to send their documents to mainland courts in civil cases.

Previously, there was no such regulation. And due to the poor delivery of documents across the Straits, many cases could not be heard.

"The new legal interpretation will increase the awareness and confidence of Taiwan residents in maintaining their rights, and it will also significantly promote cross-Strait judicial exchange and cooperation," Huang Songyou, vice-president of the SPC, said.

He said personnel, economic and cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Straits have kept increasing since 1987, when the Taiwan government allowed its residents to visit the mainland.

By the end of last year trade volume between the two sides totaled $720 billion and Taiwan investment in the mainland was $45.3 billion.

Last year, courts handled 4,163 civil cases involving Taiwan people compared with 3,529 in 2006.

The highest court has long paid attention to the protection of the rights of litigants of both sides, Huang said.

In 1988, the court issued a legal interpretation focusing on marriages, family property, family support, inheritance, adoption, and debts, concerning Taiwan clients.

In 1998, it issued another interpretation to facilitate the enforcement of Taiwan civil verdicts and arbitrary decisions in the mainland.

After that, the SPC also enlarged the scope of Taiwan civil verdicts and reconciliation agreements that can be recognized by mainland courts.

(China Daily April 23, 2008)