About 16.6 per cent more cases were dealt with than in 2003, but the number of outstanding cases has risen due to an increased inflow of cases, Skare Ozbolt said at a press conference.
The number of cases that have not yet been dealt with by courts has risen to 1.64 million. The Justice Ministry, however, claims that the trend of the rise in the number of outstanding cases has been reduced because the number of such cases had stood at about 11 per cent in the past.
Skare Ozbolt said that all courts had received about 11 per cent more cases in 2004 than the year before.
According to the ministry, more cases have been completed than before thanks to successful reforms, including the increased number of court counsellors, the referral of cases from overburdened to less burdened courts and the temporary reassignment of judges to higher courts.
These measures have resulted in a reduced number of outstanding civil suits by about seven per cent and criminal cases by about 10 per cent. Distraint cases and minor offence cases still account for more than half of all the outstanding cases.
Skare Ozbolt said that special efforts would be made this year to cut the backlog of distraint cases, and that her ministry was considering the possibility of establishing special courts to deal with less important cases.
The minister said she was also satisfied with reduced backlogs of files at land registries, but added that land offices had to improve their work organisation.