Bangladesh’s courts are dealing with more than 4.6 million pending cases, highlighting the continued pressure on the country’s judicial system despite ongoing efforts to improve case disposal.
Speaking in the Jatiya Sangsad on Tuesday, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman said a total of 4,639,476 cases remain unresolved across the country’s courts.
Of these, 1,813,263 are civil cases, while 2,826,213 relate to criminal matters.
The figures were provided in response to a question from opposition Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Golam Rasul.
The minister said the judiciary disposed of 338,393 cases over the past year. Higher courts settled 63,309 cases, while lower courts resolved 275,084 cases during the same period.
According to the latest official data, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court had 38,713 pending cases as of 31 March 2026. Those included 21,652 civil cases and 17,061 criminal cases.
The High Court Division was handling a substantially larger caseload, with 522,331 pending matters, comprising 101,168 civil cases and 421,163 criminal cases.
During 2025, the Appellate Division disposed of 7,553 cases, while the High Court Division concluded 55,756 cases.
The minister said lower courts continued to shoulder the greatest burden, with 4,078,432 pending cases by the end of March. That total included 1,690,443 civil cases and 2,387,989 criminal cases.
Over the previous year, lower courts disposed of 49,073 civil cases and 226,011 criminal cases.
Responding to a separate question from Jamaat lawmaker Syed Joynul Abedin, the law minister said the government’s mandatory mediation programme is now operating in 20 districts.
He said the initiative has significantly improved dispute resolution and reduced the filing of regular court cases by 62.83% in those areas.
Following what he described as encouraging results, the government intends to gradually extend the mandatory mediation system to all districts, including Dhaka.
Answering another parliamentary question from ruling party lawmaker Shah Md Wares Ali Mamun, the minister said 3,625 money loan cases were pending in courts across Bangladesh as of 31 March 2026.
The minister also outlined the current strength of the judiciary in response to a question from Jamaat lawmaker Mahfuza Hannan.
He said the appellate division currently has five justices, including the chief justice, while the high court division has 101 justices.
In the lower judiciary, 1,964 judges are serving against 2,620 sanctioned posts, indicating that a significant number of judicial positions remain vacant as the courts continue to manage a substantial and growing caseload.
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