More than 1,600 cases remain pending at the Criminal Court, Judicial Service Commission (JSC) President Husni Mubarik has said.

Speaking at a ceremony held yesterday to swear in newly appointed judges to the Criminal and Civil Courts, Husni said 1,626 cases were pending at the Criminal Court during the first six months of this year.

He said 1,098 new cases had been filed at the court so far this year. Prior to the appointment of three new judges, each judge at the Criminal Court was handling an average of 84 cases, with around 15 new cases assigned to each judge every month.

Husni said the JSC decided to appoint additional judges to the Criminal Court due to delays in concluding cases and the growing backlog. He attributed the delays mainly to the high number of cases relative to the number of judges.

Meanwhile, Husni said the Civil Court had concluded more than 2,000 cases during the first six months of this year.