Despite a steady rise in the number of new cases over the years, the judiciary has made progress in reducing its backlog. This is according to the recently released 2024 Annual Judiciary Report. The number of pending cases has declined since 2020, though more than 1,000 cases still remain unresolved.
The judiciary recorded almost 1,200 pending cases last year, which is a drop from more than 1,600 in 2023.
According to the Annual Judiciary Report, there were more than 2,800 pending cases in 2020.
The report attributed the decline in pending cases to additional effort to address case backlog and commitment to resolving disputes. The judiciary says there has been improved efficiency including in court proceedings and also due to decrease in appeal rates.
Last year, the district courts had the highest pending cases with more than 700 cases. The commercial benches of Thimphu District Court recorded the highest unresolved cases exceeding 200.
Judiciary officials said since the number of registered cases in commercial benches are high, the pending cases remain high.
The commercial benches passed judgments for more than 900 cases last year.
Similarly, Dungkhag courts recorded more than 370 pending cases.
The High Court and Supreme Court have nearly 40 and 60 unresolved cases respectively.
Meanwhile, new case registration remains high. Last year, nearly 10,000 cases were registered. Civil cases accounted for more than 6,000, while more than 1,900 were criminal cases.
Deki Lhazom
Edited by Tshering Zam
