Bhutan’s Rule of Law not up to mark: World Bank’s report

Bhutan’s Rule of Law not up to mark- World Bank’s reportThe Registrar General of the Supreme Court, Tshering Dorji says he does not agree with the findings of the World Bank which says Bhutan has not been performing well, when it comes to implementing the Rule of Law. The report titled “Worldwide Governance Indicators Report” had collected data from 1996 to 2013 to summarise the quality of governance in a country.

He said they have everything in place to ensure justice to the public. “We have courts in almost all the dzongkhags.” Tshering Dorji also said Bhutan will soon have specialised courts and that Bhutan has been practising mediation and dispute resolutions since centuries ago. “We have everything in place and their indicator says Bhutan’s Rule of Law is going down.”

The Registrar General also said there is a lack of sense of appreciation when it comes to Bhutanese context. “When a person wins a case, he says he won because he was right and when someone loses a case, they say it is because the judge or the bench clerk was not in their favour. If this is the situation, there is an appeal procedure.”

However, many who spoke to BBS echoed the findings of the World Bank report. They said there are two sets of law in the country; for the poor and the rich.

“While the laws seem to be strict with low income people like us, it is otherwise when it comes to powerful and influential people,” said Pema, a resident of Thimphu.

Another resident of Thimphu, Chimi Om said even in hospitals there are two set of rules. “Influential people and people with contacts need not wait in a queue for a long time to get attended.”

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