JUDICIARY OF THE KINGDOM OF BHUTAN ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Table of Contents From the Office of the Chief Justice of Bhutan ............................................................................................ 1 1. Background ............................................................................................................................................... 5 2. Felicitations ............................................................................................................................................... 6 3. Case Report, 2017 ................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1. Case Statistics, 2017 ........................................................................................................................ 10 3.2. Overall 2017 Case Statistics ......................................................................... 12 3.3. Case Statistics Summary (2007-2017).................................................................................... 13 3.4. Cases Registered and Decided.................................................................................... 14 3.5. Types of Cases Decided.................................................................................... 17 3.6. No. of Civil and Criminal Cases........................................................................................................ 28 3.7. Case Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 29 3.8. Statistics of Marriage Certificates and others....................................................................................30 3.9. Revenue generated by the Judiciary in 2017.................................................................................... 33 4. Key Events, 2017 .................................................................................................................................... 34 4.1. Inauguration and ground-breaking ceremonies ................................................................................ 34 Inauguration of Punakha Dzongkhag Court ........................................................................................ 34 Visit of His Holiness the Je Khenpo at Punakha Dzongkhag Court ................................................... 34 Inauguration of Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag Court ...................................................................... 35 Inauguration of the Family and Child Bench of Thimphu Dzongkhag Court. ................................... 35 Ground breaking for Sarpang Dzongkhag Court construction............................................................ 36 Ground breaking for Haa Dzongkhag Court construction .................................................................. 36 Ground breaking for Tashi Yangtse Dzongkhag Court construction .................................................. 36 Consecration of Drangpons' Residences ................................................................................................. 37 Launch of the Government to Citizen (G2C) Judicial Services .......................................................... 37 4.2. Appointment, Superannuation and Transfer .................................................................................... 38 Appointment of Supreme Court Drangpons ....................................................................................... 38 Assignment of Benches to Drangpons of the Supreme Court ............................................................. 38 Appointment of High Court Drangpons .............................................................................................. 38 Orientation program for the new High Court Justices ........................................................................ 39 Appointment of Dzongkhag Drangpons ............................................................................................. 39 Orientation for newly appointed Dzongkhag and Dungkhag Drangpons ........................................... 39 Appointment of the Director General of the Bhutan National Legal Institute .................................... 40 Appointment of Thrimdag of the Royal Court of Armed Forces. ....................................................... 40 Appointment of Drangpon Rabjams ................................................................................................... 41 Recitation of Kanjur at the Supreme Court.............................................................................................58 Appointment of Court Registrars ........................................................................................................ 41 Obituary ..................................................................................................................................................59 Appointment of Sungkhorp of the Supreme Court ............................................................................. 42 Challenges...................................................................................................................................................59 Superannuation ................................................................................................................................... 42 1. Financial Dependency.....................................................................................................................59 Transfer of Dzongkhag Drangpons ..................................................................................................... 42 2. Human Resource Dependency..........................................................................................................59 4.3. Conferences/Workshops .................................................................................................................. 43 ANNEXURE...............................................................................................................................................59 Twenty-second National Judicial Conference .................................................................................... 43 Notifications and Orders from the Hon. Chief Justice of Bhutan...........................................................60 Case Management; Implementing the International Framework for Court Excellence; Judicial Ethics & Social Media, Specialty Courts and No Cost Legal Research ........................................................ 43 Legal Reporting for the members of the Journalist Association of Bhutan (JAB) ............................. 44 Legal Document Management and Archiving System ....................................................................... 44 4.4. Trainings .......................................................................................................................................... 45 Mediation (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Skills & Techniques. .................................................... 45 Child Court Procedure for Bench Clerks ............................................................................................ 45 Child Court Procedure for Dungkhag Court Drangpons ..................................................................... 45 Judgment Drafting and Case Management System (CMS) ................................................................ 46 4.4. Talks ............................................................................................................................................. 47 a. International Delegates ........................................................................................................................ 47 Permanent Court of Arbitration: The Institution, and The PCA and International Dispute Settlement in Asia. ................................................................................................................................................ 47 Biodiversity Protection: Legal and Policy Perspective and Environmental Law: A Global Perspective. ......................................................................................................................................... 47 b) Hon. Chief Justice of Bhutan .............................................................................................................. 48 Reforms in Judiciary ........................................................................................................................... 48 Constitutionalism and Rule of Law .................................................................................................... 48 4.5. Visits by the Hon. Chief Justice of Bhutan. ..................................................................................... 49 a. International Visits .............................................................................................................................. 49 Second Southeast Asia Judicial Workshop on Cybercrime. ............................................................... 49 World Conference on Environment 2017 ...........................................................................................50 Fourteenth UN International Day of Vesak and the International Buddhist Conference on ‘Buddhist Teachings for Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace.' .............................................................. 50 From the Office of the Chief Justice of Bhutan The Eastern Zone Regional Conference on Waste Disposal & Management