Chief Justice Martha Koome in giving the 2023/2024 state of Judiciary address report said that Courts have resolved 509,664 cases out of the 516,121 new cases filed in various courts this year.
According to the Chief Justice, this represents a 99 per cent overall Case Clearance Rate in the year 2024.
Of the reported cases, criminal cases constituted 57 per cent, a 3 per cent decrease from the year 2023.
The Judiciary said that civil cases increased by 3 per cent, continuing a four-year growth trend.
While unveiling the report, Chief Justice Martha Koome attributed the Case Clearance Rate to efficiency of the courts, which she noted recorded an improvement during the period.
CJ Koome said that there had been a marked improvement in reducing pending cases, which dropped by 2.16% from 649,342 to 635,262.
“Our case backlog, reduced by 10%, with the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC), Environment and Land Court (ELC), Tribunals, and Kadhis’ Courts leading the way in backlog reduction by 37%, 20%, 29%, and 82%, respectively,” CJ Koome said.
She stated that there was a 14 per cent increase in resolved criminal cases and a 32 per cent increase in resolved civil cases, leading to a reduction in the case backlog.
“However, pending cases rose by 1.2 per cent from 625,643 to 649,310, particularly affecting the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Magistrates’ Courts and Small Claims Courts,” the report says.
The report also highlights ongoing issues and outlines recommendations for improvement.
It offers a comprehensive account of the judicial system’s performance while discussing the challenges in delivering Judiciary’s constitutional and statutory mandate.
The report covers key areas such as court efficiency, digital transformation, legal reforms, access to justice and the challenges faced by the Judiciary.
In addition, the report gives statistical data on case handling, clearance rates, transparency and providing insight into the overall health of the justice system.
Through Mahakama Popote, an initiative where judicial officers are deployed to resolve cases across the country regardless of the court station in which a case is filed, 7,665 cases were handled, with 6,269 resolved, translating to a Case Clearance Rate of 79 per cent.
During the period, some 2,095 cases involving minors were resolved through the Children National Service Month.
