There has been an unprecendented increase in the amount of cases filed with local courts in 2016, the Department of Judicial Adminsitration (DJA) has said. 

The DJA said there was a fourteen percent increase in the total number of cases across the whole justice system had received. 

Trials court had received 20,188 cases last year while it received 17,712 the year before. 

Superior courts had a nineteen percent increase within a year, with 6,826 cases filed in 2015 increasing to 8,278 a year after – an increase of 1,452 cases. 

The Magistrate courts in the outer lying islands had also seen a considerable increase – with 10,886 cases in 2015 increasing to 11,910 in 2016. 

DJA’s evaluation of the courts’ performance shows that trial courts had cleared 20,000 cases last year, seven percent more than it had done in 2015. 

Superior courts had concluded 12 percent more than it did the year before – with having cleared 7,202 in 2015 and 8,081 in 2016. 

Magistrate courts had cleared just four percent more – with 12,170 in 2015 and 12,617 in 2016. Some of the cases it concluded were those from the year before.