Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahadat Awan has proposed the formation of separate courts in the country comprising a constitutional superior court and a federal supreme court to efficiently resolve both constitutional and normal cases.

Responding to a Calling Attention Notice of Senator Rukhsana Zubairi in the Senate recently, the Minister listed several reasons for the backlog, including unnecessary litigation, an increasing trend of people filing cases, and unnecessary adjournments.

He also highlighted the failure to decide cases within the prescribed time frame as a major contributing factor to the issue.

The Minister acknowledged that the shortage of judges has been a significant issue for the judiciary and emphasized the need for the appointment of more judges to address it.

The Minister revealed that there were more than 380,436 cases pending in higher courts as of December 31, 2022.

According to Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahadat Awan, there are currently a total of 17 judges in the Supreme Court, with 14 judges serving.

In addition, the Lahore High Court has 19 vacant judge posts, while the Sindh High Court has 11 vacant posts. The Peshawar High Court has one vacant judge post and the Islamabad High Court has two vacant judge posts.