Pakistan, July 15 -- Pakistan's Supreme Court has announced that it has cleared an 11-year backlog of death penalty appeals and a 17-year backlog of post-arrest bail cases, marking a major milestone in judicial reforms. The court said the progress followed the effective implementation of a policy prioritizing long-pending cases. The reforms have also reduced the average time required to decide cases involving life, liberty, family matters, taxation, and tenancy disputes.

According to an official statement, the Supreme Court was hearing death penalty appeals filed in 2015 as recently as October 2024. Since then, it has decided 608 death penalty appeals and has now begun hearing cases filed in the current year. Only 22 death penalty appeal...