The Cross River State Judiciary has generated N137,380,440.60 in revenue from the various courts in the 2023/2024 Legal Year.

The Chief Judge of the state, Justice Akon Ikpeme, disclosed this in an address at a special court session marking the opening of the 2024/2025 legal year at the state judicial headquarters, Calabar, on Monday.

She said of the amount, a total of N55,060,160 was generated from the High Court, N15,148,300 from the Magistrates Court, N265,400 from the Customary Court, N134,670 from the Multidoor Court, and N56,650,919.60 from the Probate.

Justice Ikpeme further disclosed that out of a total of 26,894 cases in the High Court brought forward from the 2022/2023 legal year and 20,315 cases filed in the 2023/2024 legal year, 648 cases were disposed of in the 2023/2024 legal year, leaving 19,667 still pending for 2023/2024.

According to her, in the Magistrates Court, a total of 27,054 cases were brought forward from the 2022/2023 legal year, 29,942 new cases were filed in the 2023/2024 legal year; 2,181 cases were disposed of in the 2023/2024 legal year; and 27,761 cases were pending for the 2023/2024 legal year.

For the Customary Court, the Chief Judge said no case was brought forward from the 2022/2023 legal year. Of the 400 cases filed in the 2023/2024 legal year, 25 cases were disposed of, while 375 other cases were still pending for the 2023/2024 legal year.

A comparative analysis of cases in the 2022/2023 and the outgoing 3023/2024 legal years shows the growth scale in the number of cases pending about the number of cases disposed of between the two legal years, adding that this has helped to evaluate the effort of the judiciary put in to ensure speedy justice delivery.

The Chief Judge also disclosed that out of a total of 1,069 inmates in the three correctional centres in the state, 708 are awaiting trial while 361 are convicts.

Justice Ikpeme said out of the 715 inmates in the Calabar Medium Security facility, 448 are awaiting trial while 267 others are convicted.

For the Adim Farm Centre, she said all 45 inmates were awaiting trial, while out of the 91 inmates at the Obubra Medium Security Custodial Centre, 83 were awaiting trial and four others were convicted, adding that all the inmates are in normal condition, except a few sick ones.

The Chief Judge said the challenges faced by the Custodial Centres included dilapidated structures, overcrowding, inadequate medical care, inadequate workshop equipment for vocational training, poor beds and bedding, and inadequate power supply, among others.