More than 1,200 text messages have been sent notifying lawyers that civil cases were postponed since the service was set up two months ago.

Between October and the start of January, 1,221 SMS were sent through a system set up by Justice Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici.

To date, 553 lawyers had submitted their mobile number and can receive the notifications directly.

They did not subscribe for this service but received the information through the Chamber of Advocates, with whom the government has worked hand in hand to make this service possible, a spokesman for the Justice Parliamentary Secretariat said.

This month, the notification system has been widened to include the public, meaning now all parties in a civil court case can be informed if a sitting is cancelled or postponed, saving them the hassle of a wasted journey.

The spokesman said the notifications aimed to be sent a minimum of three minutes and maximum of 10 minutes after the information was entered into Law Courts Management System.

“Despite some teething problems being occasionally and quite rarely experienced, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” he said.

People who have a civil case must apply for the service at the Court Registry, unlike the automatic system in place for lawyers.

They can opt to be advised about all of their cases, if they have many, or select certain ones.

The notification system formed part of a reform that aimed at making full use of information technology. The authorities have also introduced a system to e-mail decrees and evidence to practitioners.

In the next few months, it would become possible for judicial acts to be presented in Malta or Gozo, independently of where the cases were held.

Also, legal practitioners will soon be able to access information related to cases and judicial acts, which at the moment is only available on the courts’ internal system, from the comfort of their office.

All documents in the civil registry will be scanned and become available to practitioners online.