During the inauguration of the Legal Year 2024 yesterday, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Dato Seri Paduka Steven Chong shared a report on last year’s case statistics.
He said, “For the 12-month period ending in December 2023, the clearance rate of criminal matters in the Magistrates’ Courts stood at 80 per cent whereas the clearance rate for civil matters was at 83 per cent, marking an improvement from the 2022’s rates of 77 per cent and 63 per cent. The time taken for the delivery of judgments at the Magistrates’ Courts – 91.8 per cent of judgments for criminal matters and 80 per cent of judgments for civil matters – were delivered within the target of one to three months from the close of submissions.
The Chief Justice also stated that “the number of civil and commercial cases filed in the Court of Appeal, High Court, Intermediate Court and Magistrates’ Courts has continued on an upward trend since 2022, again signalling a positive return for civil and commercial litigation post COVID-19.”
He added that the Probate Registry also had a busy and productive year, with a marked increase in the number of applications received and granted for letters of administration.
He said, “The number of receiving orders and adjudication orders filed have continued to rise” for bankruptcies.
Meanwhile, the number of applications for registration of marriages and divorce petitions dropped and that “the number of criminal cases filed in Bandar Seri Begawan Magistrates’ Court also saw a decrease” in 2023. – Fadley Faisal
