Trends in Case Filings, Disposal, and Pendency: Assessing Access to Justice in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper looks at long-term trends in the number of cases filed, disposed and pending in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh since the year 2000 in order to determine its impact on access to justice. The research is based on the Access to Justice Theory and Institutional Capacity Theory and assumes a quantitative secondary data design with the official statistics of the Appellate Division and the High Court Division on the criminal justice. The new filings, disposals, pending cases, and clearance rates are analyzed to examine the demand versus the institutional capacity regarding the litigation questions. Results indicate that there has been non-stop rise in cases filing in both divisions throughout the twenty-five years indicating growing dependency on the apex court. Nevertheless, performance on disposal has been variable as opposed to structural (that is, high levels in some years and then renewed high levels of backlog). In 2024, pendency remains at fairly historic high levels in the High Court Division and is likely to suggest structural congestion. The study finds that episodic fluctuations in the capacity to dispose have decreased the backlog in the short term but there has not been a long-term balance between inflow and disposal capacity of cases. Sustainable access to justice will thus take place by enhancing structural capacity and steady performance management within the Supreme Court system.