Windhoek: Chief Justice Peter Shivute on Thursday stressed that human resources remain a major challenge amid high case registrations across all court levels. Speaking during the official opening of the 2026 legal year, Shivute said the shortage of judicial officers has reached a critical point following the retirement of two judges from the Supreme Court and the High Court last year.
According to Namibia Press Agency, Shivute emphasized that human resources remain one of the judiciary's most immediate and pressing challenges. Judicial officers and support staff are required to manage not only increasing caseloads, but also the ancillary administrative, technological, and procedural demands of a modern justice system. The chief justice highlighted that, over the past year, the civil stream of the main division of the High Court has operated under severe and sustained constraints in judicial capacity, with the civil bench standing at seven judges, while in the northern local division a single judge carried responsibility for the entire civil stream.
He further indicated that last year the civil bench managed a total of 4,295 cases, with the average workload per judge rising sharply to approximately 614 cases, compared to 384 in the 2024 legal year. Similar constraints continue to affect the Lower Courts, with the backlog situation remaining the most critical challenge in the Magistrates' Courts, where the combined backlog increased from 57,090 cases at the end of 2024 to 63,679 cases in December 2025.
Shivute stressed that these conditions have placed exceptional demands on judicial officers and the institutional support structures of the court. Judges and court staff are operating under sustained pressure, noting the high demand for adequate judicial appointments to ensure the timely resolution of cases. He said understaffing in administrative roles continues to create persistent bottlenecks and delays in case processing, which are exacerbated by budget constraints that prevent the courts from effectively meeting rising demand.