The Justice Ministry is in the process of recruiting 50 new judges to address the labour shortages in the courts system, which has led to a backlog of over 1.13 million cases. 

A recent meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice and National Integration revealed the number of pending cases as follows:

• Supreme Court – 5,785
• Court of Appeal – 4,572
• High Courts (criminal cases) – 6,286
• Commercial High Court – 6,146
• Special three-judge High Court – 3
• High Courts – 27,324
• District Courts – 262,665
• Juvenile Magistrate’s Court – 1,260 

In total, the number of pending cases amounts to 1,131,818, according to Justice Ministry officials present at the meeting. 

A high-ranking official at the Justice Ministry, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Sunday Morning that this figure was for cases up until 30 June 2024 as the courts were not automated and only collected data manually. 

“We still get the data through post so our reports usually have a six-month gap,” said the official. 

The Sunday Morning reported last year that as at 31 December 2023, 1,122,113 cases were pending in the country, with the largest number of pending cases being in the Magistrate’s Courts (805,502). Hence, in the six-month period since 31 December 2023, the backlog has increased by 9,705 cases. 

In the years since 2015, the backlog of cases at the end of the year has seen a consecutive increase (except in 2017), serving as a grim reminder of the congestion in the courts system. 

Shortage of human resources 

While there was a shortage of court houses and a lack of infrastructure contributing to the issue of delays, the official said there were also serious labour shortages. 

“Human resources are also needed; it is not just about opening new courts,” he said. 

As at 31 December 2023, Sri Lanka only had 416 judges in total: 17 in the Supreme Court; 20 in the Court of Appeal; 92 in the Civil Appellate High Courts, Commercial High Courts, Special High Courts, and Criminal High Courts; 259 in the District Courts, District/Magistrates’ Courts, Magistrates’ Courts, Circuit Magistrates’ Courts, and Children’s Magistrates’ Courts; and 33 in the Labour Tribunals. 

As such, in the District Courts, District/Magistrates’ Courts, Magistrates’ Courts, Circuit Magistrates’ Courts, and Children’s Magistrates’ Courts, there had been over 4,000 cases per judge in 2023. 

Seventy-six new officers were hired between 2021 and 2023 to address this shortage of human resources within courthouses, but the issue persists. Thus, the official said the ministry was currently in the process of hiring 50 new judges. 

In total, 75 new judges are needed while 2,294 other court officers are needed islandwide. The ministry has requested approval from the Department of Management Services (DMS) to urgently hire 753 new officers to fill these vacancies. 

Infrastructure and institutions 

A committee appointed by the ministry had previously recommended establishing new courts in rural areas and additional courts in areas where district courts were already functioning. This process was halted due to the economic crisis, but the ministry is planning to restart it, according to the official. 

He also emphasised the need to establish pre-litigation processes outside of courts and to expand the number of small claims courts in order to reduce congestion. 

Furthermore, a key institution in the process of justice – the Government Analyst’s Department – is also facing a number of issues. In 2024, over 50% of the 64,524 cases sent to the Government Analyst’s Department were drug-related cases. With only 78 officers in the department, one officer has to handle at least 800 cases a year, severely delaying justice processes. 

Lack of resources

Attorney-At-Law Jayantha Dehiaththage also said that a serious lack of resources was delaying court cases in Sri Lanka, with the number of cases a judge may face per day being too large to handle. 

Another reason for the delay was the length of time taken by the Police to conduct criminal investigations, he noted.  

“The Police lack training and up-to-date technology to conduct investigations in a timely manner.”

In civil cases, pre-litigation processes such as issuing notices took time as well, he noted, advocating digitalisation where possible. 

“For instance, if evidence can be given online instead of the person having to physically come to court, it might reduce the time taken to hear a case,” he said. 

Impact on economic development 

Speaking in Parliament on 1 March, Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara too commented on the issue, highlighting that delays of justice were not taking place in a vacuum. 

One impact of delays in court cases is that the property involved cannot be used for productive economic purposes. 

Additionally, Nanayakkara highlighted that Sri Lanka remained low on the Ease of Doing Business Index and the Contract Enforcement Index, which reflected on the overall conducive environment for businesses and investments in the country. 

According to the World Bank, it takes 1,318 days to implement a contract in Sri Lanka.