The Of­fice of the Di­rec­tor of Pub­lic Pros­e­cu­tions (ODPP) says it is cur­rent­ly un­able to as­sign pros­e­cu­tors to new­ly planned crim­i­nal courts due to acute staffing short­ages and ex­ist­ing work­load pres­sures.

In a let­ter dat­ed April 30, 2026, ad­dressed to the Act­ing Reg­is­trar and Mar­shal of the Supreme Court of Ju­di­ca­ture, the Di­rec­tor of Pub­lic Pros­e­cu­tions re­spond­ed to plans to as­sign three to four ad­di­tion­al judges to the Crim­i­nal Di­vi­sion of the High Court from ear­ly May 2026, aimed at ad­dress­ing the back­log of crim­i­nal mat­ters.

The ODPP said that while it re­mains com­mit­ted to the ef­fi­cient ad­min­is­tra­tion of jus­tice, it does not have the pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al ca­pac­i­ty to staff the ad­di­tion­al courts.