Millions of cases create judicial bottleneck nationwide

June 18, 2026 (MLN): For most citizens, the true test of freedom isn’t just found at the ballot box, but in the courtroom. According to the newly released "Pakistan Freedom Report 2026," Pakistan's robust constitutional promises are colliding with a severely strained justice system, creating a massive "justice gap" that affects the daily lives of millions.

While Article 10A of Pakistan's Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to a fair trial and due process, the report reveals that the practical reality of accessing justice is a grueling endurance test.

The Mountain of Pending Cases The report paints a stark statistical picture of a judiciary buckling under structural pressures. Currently, there are over 2.2 million cases pending across the nation's courts.

As of the 2025–26 data, 59,191 cases remain unresolved before the Supreme Court, while over 450,000 cases are stalled in High Courts.

Most alarmingly, the district courts the frontline of justice for ordinary citizens are suffocating under a backlog of nearly 1.74 million cases.

The report notes that civil and criminal cases can take years, and sometimes decades, to reach a resolution. This endless delay not only undermines the effectiveness of legal remedies but deeply erodes public confidence in the system.

For ordinary citizens, the cost of litigation, travel, and legal fees makes navigating these complex procedures prohibitive, effectively turning justice into a luxury for the wealthy rather than a right for all.

The Human Toll: Overcrowded Prisons This bureaucratic bottleneck translates directly into a human crisis behind bars. Because cases take so long to process, Pakistan’s prison population has surged past 102,000 inmates.

The nation's prisons are bursting at the seams. In Punjab, prisons are operating at an astonishing 166.1% of their official capacity, while Sindh is close behind at 161.4%.

A massive driver of this overcrowding is the tragedy of "under-trial prisoners" (UTPs). These are individuals who have not been convicted of a crime but remain incarcerated for extended periods sometimes for minor or non-violent offenses simply because they cannot secure bail or get a timely court hearing.

In Punjab alone, over 17,700 inmates fall into this under-trial category.

Source: Prison Data Report 2024, published January 2025 by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), National Academy of Prison Administration (NAPA), and Justice Project Pakistan. National prison population reported as 102,026 inmates in 2024.

The Path Forward Despite this grim picture, the report highlights that the state is attempting to modernize. The digitalization of court records, the introduction of e-courts, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms are being rolled out to reduce the burden on traditional courts.

However, the Pakistan Freedom Report concludes that a nation is only as free as its courts are accessible. "Unequal access to legal representation, delays, and perceptions of selective accountability remain the system's most critical vulnerabilities," the report warns.

To achieve true freedom, the state must prioritize resolving this justice gap so that the constitutional promise of a fair trial becomes a reality for every citizen.

Copyright Mettis Link News