Courts resolve more cases than filed in 2025

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Courts in Bahrain cleared 67,533 cases in 2025, outstripping the 66,190 new cases filed during the year, according to newly released judicial figures.

The data, published on the Open Data Portal, show that the courts dealt with a sharp rise in incoming cases while ending the year having resolved 1,343 more cases than were newly lodged.

New cases rose by about 15.5 pc from 57,311 in 2024 to 66,190 in 2025. Cases disposed of also climbed, from 59,280 in 2024 to 67,533 last year, an increase of roughly 13.9 pc.

First-instance courts carried the bulk of the caseload, receiving 51,380 new cases, or around 77.6 pc of all new cases across the courts. They resolved 52,869 cases, giving the tier a clearance rate of 1.03, meaning it decided more cases than it received during the year.

The number of pending first-instance cases stood at 9,242 at the end of 2025, up by about 7.7 pc on 2024. The increase came despite a rise in completed cases, as the heavier flow of new filings added to the stock of live cases.

Appeal courts received 12,080 new cases in 2025 and cleared 11,789, giving them a clearance rate of 0.98, close to balance between new filings and completed cases. Pending appeal cases reached 1,154 at the end of the year, compared with 1,109 in 2024.

The figures also point to quicker handling of appeal cases. The average age of an appeal case fell from 2.1 months in 2024 to 1.8 months in 2025, and remained well below the 2.8-month average recorded in 2022.

The Court of Cassation recorded 2,730 new cases in 2025 and resolved 2,875, producing the highest clearance rate among the three court tiers at 1.05. This came despite a rise of about 16.4 pc in new cassation cases compared with 2024.

Pending cassation cases also fell sharply over the longer term, dropping from 1,029 at the end of 2022 to 541 at the end of 2025, a fall of nearly 47 pc.

Across all court levels, pending cases stood at 10,937 at the end of 2025, up from 10,215 at the end of 2024, a rise of about 7.1 pc in one year. Compared with 2022, however, the backlog was lower, falling from 11,611 cases to 10,937, a drop of about 5.8 pc over the period.