Mobile-phone subscribers can now receive trial information from a Chinese court by text message.

The court can provide basic information on lodging a lawsuit, court notices and even specific information to those involved in a case, according to a source with the Intermediate People's Court of Nanjing, capital of eastern Jiangsu Province. This is a first for China, the source said.

In China access to trial information has traditionally been difficult to access and only a small fraction of the general public has any experience of litigation. 

In Nanjing people can send a text-message request to the court's information center but access to case specific material is restricted to those directly involved. .

The court gives those involved in a case an 11-figure code number which they use to make their inquiry, the source said. A telephone hotline system has also been put into operation to answer requests.

China has the largest number of phone subscribers in the world. The figure stood at 426 million at the end of 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2006)