According to last year's data, there were 581,891 pending cases in the first instance judicial courts (not counting the sentencing courts), that is, 1,759 more cases than in 2022.

Last year, 431,512 processes were filed (3.4% more than in 2022) and 429,753 were declared completed (6.5% less than in the previous year).

Despite the slight increase in the number of cases, justice statistics show that pending cases are well below the maximum recorded in 2012 when the pendency reached more than 1.6 million cases.

Pending processes include, according to the DGPJ, all those who entered the system and do not yet have a final decision, whether in the form of a ruling, sentence, or order in the respective instance, regardless of whether the decision becomes final.

The majority of cases that were filed (63%) and were considered completed (65%) in 2023 were in the civil area, with there also being a slight increase in justice in the area of family and minor guardianship.

There were fewer new cases in the criminal area and in the labor area, but in all procedural areas, a decrease in the number of completed cases was observed.