The Bhutan National Legal Institute (BNLI) launched the following reports today:
- Annual Report 2022;
- National Mediation Report 2022; and
- Court-Annexed Mediation Report 2022.
Annual Report 2022
The Bhutan National Legal Institute is the training and research arm of the Judiciary. It continues to conduct relevant training, workshops, and sensitization programs on different areas and themes to enhance professional competence and capacity building of the judges, judicial personnel, and legal professionals.
According to the report, the Institute conducted a total of 30 activities in 2022. The major activities include the establishment of the Legal Aid Center for indigent persons, training on Child Justice for Judges, training on Court-Annexed Mediation (CAM) for Bench Clerks, training on Trafficking in Persons (TIPs) for Judges and Judicial Officers, training on Mediations Skills and Techniques for the Local Government Leaders (Mangmis), Sensitization Program on Legal Aid Services for relevant stakeholders, Thrimzhung Leyrim through BBS Radio (Tshangla) Program for the general public, Sensitization Program on Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for Children in Conflict with the Law and Children in Contact with the Law and Judges’ Book Club. The Institute also initiated Lecture Series on Sexual Harassment and Peer Mediation for the School Law Clubs. Today, forty-eight schools have law clubs. Law clubs serve as a useful avenue for legal information and education. The Clubs function under the patronage of the Institute. To minimize the resources and for wider participation, most of the activities were carried out virtually.
National Mediation Report 2022
The report reveals that the local government leaders and Thromde Thuemis have settled 3,454 disputes in 2022. As such, Nangkha Nangdrig (traditional mediation) plays a considerable role in enhancing access to justice and removing the litigation burdens of the courts.
Without this dispute resolution system, the number of civil cases reaching the courts every year could be higher. Mediation services at the community level have begun to act as an important legal and justice intermediary thus enabling the communities the opportunity to negotiate. These aspects of negotiation, besides acting as legal remedies, help the communities to resolve disputes in their communities – thus reducing the Courts from unnecessary and trivial legal burdens. More importantly, it’s cost-effective, speedy, flexible in nature and addresses the dispute most cordially, and gives people the opportunity to live happily as families, friends, and neighbors – ensuring a free, fair, and content society based on principles of consensus. Although mediation or any alternative dispute resolution system will never replace or substitute the comprehensive adjudication of cases by professional judges, it will mitigate the flood of litigation, especially those which are trivial, frivolous, protracted, and cantankerous civil disputes. Mediation can never be considered an alternative to the formal justice system in the Bhutanese context but is the primary mechanism through which Bhutan carries the legal, social, and community history of dispute negotiation and settlement. It is the primary mechanism of social cohesion and community mutuality in the Bhutanese legal landscape.
Since 2012, the Institute has trained around 2,870 mediators including LG leaders (Gups, Mangmis, Tshogpas, and Thromde Thuemis), Female Gewog Administrative Officers, judicial personnel, PGDNL trainees, paralegals, private lawyers, officials from the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources, officials from Construction Development Board, Clerks from Armed Forces and officials from Gyalpoi Zimpon Office and the Office of Attorney General. As per the previous reports, the LG leaders mediated around 4,000 cases annually.
In 2021, the LG leaders settled 3,824, and 3,454 disputes in 2022. Since 2012, a total of 43,277 disputes have been resolved. Otherwise, the above number of cases would have reached the courts. This directly helped reduce the number of cases in the courts of law. Comparatively, in 2021 and 2022, there is a suggestive difference in the number of cases resolved through mediation services. The trend indicates that the disputes in the community may be slowly dwindling – thus exhibiting the effective nature of legal information services in the communities, which is indirectly helping people to understand laws. This can be interpreted as ‘the enhancement of community vitality.’ People can use the aid of the law to bring community cohesion, cordiality, and peace.
According to the report, Paro Dzongkhag settled the highest number of disputes (393), followed by Trashigang Dzongkhag (320) and Samtse Dzongkhag (298). Matrimonial disputes (896) topped the list, followed by land disputes (499) and monetary disputes (472).
Court-Annexed Mediation Report 2022
The Courts across the country have registered a total of 5,973 civil cases in 2022. Of 5,973, a total of 1,474 cases were mediated by the Court-Annexed Mediation Units (CAMU). The report reveals that the Thimphu Dzongkhag Court mediated 274 cases, followed by Monggar Dzongkhag Court (157) and Trashigang Dzongkhag Court (141). The Family and Child Bench of the Thimphu Dzongkhag Court mediated the highest number of cases (226) in 2022. The report also reveals that 986 cases mediated pertained to matrimonial cases, followed by 264 monetary cases. In 2021, the CAMUs of the Courts settled 994 cases.
The Court-Annexed Mediation Units were established in 2019 in all courts across the country. In the Court-Annexed Mediation System, judges refer appropriate civil cases to the CAMU for judicial mediation as well the parties are allowed to opt for mediation services at any stage of the hearing process. This is normally done after the case is registered and before the judgment is rendered. The mediation services are facilitated by the Bench Clerks. So far, a total of 162 Bench Clerks have been trained as judicial mediators. The mediation services at the Court-Annexed Mediation Units (CAMU) and the Community Mediation Centers are provided free of cost. This helps to enhance access to justice at the grassroots level.
The Institute acknowledges the support and cooperation of the Judges and the Bench Clerks across the country for effectively rendering judicial mediation services which is a need of society. Equally, the Institute would like to thank the Local Government leaders for their continued support and cooperation in rendering mediation services. The Institute also expresses its sincere appreciation to the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) for their generous financial and technical support.