Registrars and bench clerks play a crucial role in the administration of justice. They assist judges on a daily basis in the judicial proceeding, which includes analysis of cases and judgment writing and drafting. Thus, it is important that periodic training for the judicial personnel is carried out to enhance their skills and knowledge, and to ensure justice delivery ultimately.
Judgement writing is an art that involves the skilful application of law and logic. A court must publish reasons for its decision, not merely to provide reasons to the parties. Judgments touch the lives of many people and should convey meaning to all who read them. Judgments are not written just for the parties, although they are the most interested readers. Judgments are also precedents. As such, they are written for other judges and lawyers, legal academics, law students and court users as well as the media, business sector, government, and the community at large. Since a written judgment is a public document, it should be intelligible to the general public. It is not sufficient that the judgment can be interpreted or appreciated by judges and other jurists. It must also be comprehensible to the average literate layman and in particular to the litigants who are affected by the judgment. Thus, as part of the Capacity Building and Continuing Judicial Education Program for the Judicial Personnel, a five-day Integrated Training on Judgment Drafting and Interpretation of Statutes for court registrars and bench clerks is underway in Punakha.
This training will also help participants to develop skills to better interpret the law. A sound understanding of the rules of interpretation of the Act of Parliament can be of assistance to the judicial officers in the performance of their judicial functions. Because the court registrars and bench clerks also interpret the laws as the judges do.
The training is designed in such a way that it will supplement the skills acquired by the registrars and bench clerks through numerous years of experience. The skills acquired by the registrars and bench clerks from this training would immensely assist the judges in the correct interpretation of laws and judgment writing. The training which is funded by RGoB will conclude on October 14, 2023