Police officers walk past the Supreme Court of Pakistan building in Islamabad, Pakistan April 6, 2022. REUTERS
ISLAMABAD’:
For the first time in its history, the Supreme Court has recorded a significant decrease in its backlog of pending cases – not as a result of expedited disposition, but due to the transfer of tens of thousands of cases to the newly constituted Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).
The backlog at the SC, which had crossed 56,000 cases, has dwindled to around 33,700 following the transfer of more than 22,900 cases to the FCC following the enforcement of the 27th Amendment.
According to official data, a total of 19,370 new cases were filed at the SC between January and November 2025, while 20,665 cases were processed in the same period. Despite disposals marginally exceeding new applications, the total pendency stood at 56,608 cases in November 2025.
But after the constitutional amendments, 22,910 cases were transferred from the SC to the FCC, bringing down the number of cases pending at the apex court to 33,698.
The data further shows that judicial capacity was expanded during 2024 and 2025 through 31 meetings of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), resulting in the appointment of 53 judges across the Supreme Judiciary.
The appointments included eight judges to the SC. Two judges and one chief justice have been in the IHC, three judges and two chief justices in the BHC, ten judges and one chief justice in the PHC, twelve judges and one chief justice in the SHC and thirteen judges in the LHC.
At present, 18 judges, including the Chief Justice of Pakistan, perform judicial functions in the SC, against a sanctioned strength of 34 judges.
