Supreme Court Updates Caseload After Transfer to Constitutional Benches

The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) has updated its caseload following the transfer of 22,910 cases to newly formed constitutional benches, reducing the total pending cases to 33,796 from 56,608 reported on November 13. Over the past week, 333 new cases were registered, while 304 cases were disposed of.

Earlier this year, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi revealed that Chinese judges were surprised by Pakistan’s extensive backlog during his visit to China. He noted that China’s Supreme People’s Court, with 367 judges, has no pending cases, highlighting a stark contrast to Pakistan’s overburdened judiciary. Afridi stressed the importance of technology in expediting judicial processes and stated that the delegation aimed to learn effective case management strategies from China.

During the visit, Afridi also met with Indian judges and Iran’s Chief Justice on the sidelines of the 20th SCO Chief Justices’ Conference in Hangzhou. The discussions focused on improving judicial efficiency and tackling case backlogs in Pakistan, with further details expected to be addressed in future meetings.