More than 4.63 million cases, including nearly 1.81 million civil cases, are currently pending in courts across Bangladesh, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman informed Parliament on Tuesday.
Responding to a question from opposition Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Golam Rasul, the minister said a total of 46,39,476 cases remain unresolved. Of these, 18,13,263 are civil cases and 28,26,213 are criminal cases.
He said the judiciary disposed of 3,38,393 cases over the past year, including 63,309 in the higher courts and 2,75,084 in the lower courts.
According to the minister, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court had 38,713 pending cases as of March 31, 2026, comprising 21,652 civil and 17,061 criminal cases.
The High Court Division had 5,22,331 pending cases, including 1,01,168 civil and 4,21,163 criminal cases.
In 2025, the Appellate Division disposed of 7,553 cases, while the High Court Division settled 55,756 cases.
The lower courts accounted for the largest backlog, with 40,78,432 pending cases as of March 31. These included 16,90,443 civil cases and 23,87,989 criminal cases. During the past year, the lower courts disposed of 49,073 civil cases and 2,26,011 criminal cases.
Replying to another question, the minister said mandatory mediation is currently being implemented in 20 districts, where it has helped resolve disputes and reduced the filing of regular cases by 62.83 percent.
He said the government plans to gradually expand the mediation programme to all districts, including Dhaka, following its success.
The minister also informed Parliament that 3,625 money loan cases were pending in courts nationwide as of March 31, 2026.
Regarding judicial manpower, Asaduzzaman said the Appellate Division currently has five judges, including the Chief Justice, while the High Court Division has 101 judges. He added that 1,964 judges are serving in the lower courts against 2,620 approved posts.
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