A total of 167, 353 cases are pending at all levels of courts in the country, the Judiciary’s National Court Case Census report has revealed.
While releasing the census report yesterday in Kampala, newly appointed Chief Justice Flavian Zeija said the whopping pending cases underscore the need for targeted intervention, especially at higher court levels. ‘A total of 167,353 cases are currently pending across all court levels. Of these, 46,542 cases are classified as backlog, representing 27.81percent of the total pending caseload,’ Justice Zeija said.
The report also shows that the High Court (70,006 cases) and Chief Magistrates’ courts (64,937 cases) had the largest caseloads. In his remarks, the Chief Justice said the primary aim of conducting a court census was to determine the actual state and backlog of cases, identify the inefficiencies in case management, and support data-driven policy formulation. ‘For a long time, one of the most persistent challenges confronting justice delivery has been the absence of comprehensive and verifiable information on court caseloads. Without reliable data, it becomes extremely difficult to plan, to allocate resources equitably, to identify systemic bottlenecks, or to evaluate institutional performance,’ Justice Zeija said.
He continued: ‘The Judiciary National Court Case Census 2025 directly responds to this challenge. It represents a deliberate effort to move away from assumptions and anecdotal evidence and instead anchor judicial reforms on facts, statistics, and empirical analysis. This report provides us with a clear picture of where we stand as an institution, what we are doing well, where we are constrained, and where we must urgently improve.’ The report also indicates that out of the pending 167,353 cases, 81,353 cases (49 percent) are at the pre-hearing stage, while a total of 78,238 cases, representing 47 percent, are under the hearing stage. Also, 4,629 cases are pending judgment
The Chief Justice said the presence of 2,327 cases pending for more than 10 years is concerning and points to bottlenecks that hinder timely access to justice, before saying strategic interventions are needed to fast-track the cases. The report, the second of its kind for the Judiciary, comes 10 years after the release of the inaugural National Court Case Census in 2015 under the leadership of then Chief Justice Bart Katureebe. Speaking at the same event, Principal Judge Jane Frances Abodo underscored the importance of the census report, saying it will help the Judiciary prioritise the old cases and also come up with planned and targeted case backlog management interventions.
‘This report tells us the cases we have and their ages, and also gives us where we should put the focus of intervention. With this report, we shall be able to make informed decisions such as work allocation and deployment,’ Abodo said.
Some Key findings
Total pending cases: The census identified 167,353 pending cases across all court levels, with the High Court (70,006) and Chief Magistrates’ Courts (64,937 cases) bearing the largest caseloads.
Case type distribution: Criminal cases dominated with 65,709 cases, followed by civil (44,911) and land (33,496) cases, among other categories.
Case age profile: Approximately 72 percent of pending cases are less than two years old, while 2,327 cases have remained pending for over 10 years, indicating a significant backlog, particularly in the High Court (25,098 backlog cases) and Chief Magistrates’ Courts (13,128 backlog cases).
Regional disparities: The central region reports the highest backlog (16,224), while the Northern region has the lowest (3,915).
Judicial officer workload ratio: Each judicial officer has an average of 305 pending cases and 85 backlog cases.
The Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court has the highest ratios, with 1:647 for pending cases and 1:358 for backlog cases, while the High Court has a ratio of 1:620 for pending cases and 1:222 for backlog cases, indicating a need for resource allocation and process improvements.