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Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman on Tuesday informed Parliament that more than 4.6 million cases are currently pending in courts across the country, highlighting the persistent backlog in the judiciary.
“A total of 4,639,476 cases — including 1,813,263 civil and 2,826,213 criminal cases — remain pending,” he said during the question-answer session in the Jatiya Sangsad, responding to a query from opposition lawmaker Golam Rasul.
The minister said that over the past year, 63,309 cases were disposed of in higher courts, while 275,084 cases were settled in lower courts.
As of March 31, 2026, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court had 38,713 pending cases, including 21,652 civil and 17,061 criminal matters.
The High Court Division had 522,331 pending cases, comprising 101,168 civil and 421,163 criminal cases.
In 2025, the Appellate Division disposed of 7,553 cases, while the High Court Division settled 55,756 cases, he added.
The lower courts account for the bulk of the backlog, with 4,078,432 cases pending as of March 31. Of these, 1,690,443 are civil cases and 2,387,989 are criminal cases.
Over the past year, lower courts disposed of 275,084 cases, including 49,073 civil and 226,011 criminal matters.
Responding to another question, the law minister said mandatory mediation is currently in place in 20 districts and has significantly reduced litigation, lowering the rate of new case filings by 62.83 percent in those areas.
Encouraged by its success, the government plans to gradually expand the mediation system to all districts, including Dhaka.
The minister also informed the House that 3,625 money loan cases were pending nationwide as of March 31, 2026.
Regarding judicial manpower, 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 a substantial shortfall in judicial capacity.