Court-Annexed Mediation Training

Bhutan National Legal Institute is organising an inaugural 6-day training on Court-Annexed Mediation (CAM) for the Sr.Bench Clerks of the Royal Court of Justice. The CAM is a system whereby the presiding judges refer certain suitable civil cases to the Court-Annexed Mediation Units (CAMU), wherein the trained judicial mediators facilitate mutual resolution of the cases between the parties. This system converts the courts into ‘multi-door’ court houses, whereby people avail judicial mediation services from ‘one of the court’s doors’. The CAM is a significant judicial reform emanating from the leadership and directives of the Hon. President of the Bhutan National Legal Institute, Her Royal Highness, Ashi Sonam Dechan Wangchuck and H.E.Lyonpo Tshering Wangchuk, the Hon.Chief Justice of Bhutan. The CAM services is aimed at providing yet another opportunity to the litigants to opt out of adversarial litigations in favor of negotiated settlement of cases with the potential for win-win outcomes, with the assistance of the neutral in-house judicial mediators, even after the cases are registered at the courts. This is expected to enhance access to justice; and promote harmony and peace in the society. The trained judicial mediators are required to operationalise the Court-Annexed Mediation Units (CAMU) in their respective courts by facilitating mediation of the cases. They will be registered as the professional mediators as per rules in collaboration with the Bhutan Atlernative Dispute Resolution Centre. The customary amicable community dispute system (Nangkha Nangdrig) pre-existed the modern Judiciary and the legal system. Even after the courts were established some fifty years ago, people availed the customary amicable system of resolution of the disputes, courts being the last resort. To ensure continuity, uniformity and professional mediation services in the country, the Bhutan National Legal Institute launched a series of nation-wide trainings to the local government leaders and relevant stakeholders since 2012. As per the National Mediation Reports, some 4000 cases are mediated across the country in the community, annually. Thirty Sr.Bench Clerks are undergoing the inaugural first phase of the training at Paro from the eight Dzongkhag and Drungkhag courts – Thimphu, Paro, Haa, Wangdue, Punakha, Chukha, Phuntsholing and Gelephu. The program is planned to cover trainings of the judicial mediators of all the courts in due course of time for the smooth delivery of Court-Annexed Mediation services.

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