Sumpreme Court, CoA record mounting backlog as civil suits soar » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 15 – The Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Magistrates’ Courts, and Small Claims Courts recorded the highest number of pending cases as the Judiciary registered a 1.2 percent growth in backlog.

The report, titled “State of the Judiciary and the Administration of Justice FY 2023/24” and released on Friday, states that pending cases across the Judiciary rose from 625,643 to 649,310 during the period under review.

However, the report released on Friday also indicates that the overall case backlog has reduced by 10 percent, with significant reductions in the Employment and Labour Relations Courts (ELRC), Environment and Land Courts (ELC), Tribunals, and Kadhis’ Courts.

The Judiciary has blamed the rise in pending cases to insufficient funding, which it argued has limited operations.

On the other hand, the reduction in the case backlog was credited to the establishment of new High Court stations in 46 counties, three new ELRC courts, and three new ELC courts.

“Additionally, three new Magistrates’ Courts were established, bringing the total to 137 operational courts across the country. Fifty-seven mobile courts were also operationalized, reducing the average distance to access these courts to 80 kilometers,” the report stated.

The Judiciary also received a total of 1,115 new complaints related to judicial misconduct during the period.

Combined with 331 cases carried forward from the previous year, this brought the total number of cases to 1,446.

Of these, 93 percent were resolved, with disciplinary actions taken against judges, magistrates, and staff, ranging from reinstatements to dismissals.

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