CAPE TOWN -- Faced with mounting prison populations and lagging prosecutions, the country's chief justice warned Monday that South African courts could start dismissing cases if Justice Department officials fail to prepare them thoroughly.

Long pretrial periods are intolerable, Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson told a parliamentary justice portfolio committee, the South African Press Association reported.

"It will have very serious consequences for maintenance of law and order if they are not able to bring matters to trial quickly," he was quoted as saying.

His comments underlined the challenges in the judicial system still faced by South Africa nearly a decade after the end of apartheid, DPA reported.

The problem of overcrowded prisons starts with the courts, Chaskalson said. Many of the country's estimated 190,000 prisoners face years in prison before they are brought to trial.

In a landmark ruling on Monday the Cape High court ordered the state to pay legal costs in the case of a woman charged in May 2000 with the murder of her husband.

The ruling arose when defense attorneys took advantage of an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that was implemented to drastically curb delays in criminal cases caused by state negligence, the news agency said.

A year and a half after her arrest, prosecutors for the state were not prepared to take the matter to trial and this week delayed the matter further by asking for another postponement to prepare for the trial.