Lack of understanding about the court proceedings and system is one of the reasons why litigants fail to comply with the court decisions.
Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Guam said this at the four-day judicial workshop which began yesterday in Thimphu.
Chief Justice Robert J. Torres, said people fail to trust what they do not understand. While a court can force a litigant to comply, the number of litigants voluntarily complying with court decisions is very less when they do not understand the process.
“Some courts have even made it very simple and explained and shown in YouTube. Sometimes people look at it visually and have a better understanding of what will happen,” says the Chief Justice of Guam.
He added, when people understand a court system, they are more likely to respect the decision that come from it, and they are more likely to comply with decisions of the court voluntarily, rather than being forced to. This, he said, is because they end up having greater respect and public trust and confidence in the judiciary.
Some countries also have mobile courts where judges go around educating communities about the court systems.
However, Justice Rinzin Penjor of the Supreme Court said such practice is not possible in Bhutan.
“In Bhutan this is practically impossible at the moment because we have very few judges in the Supreme Court and then we also do not have budget kept for such purpose.”
Instead of mobile courts, he said, the judiciary had put in place initiatives, one of which is Nangkha Nangdrik.
Nangkha Nangdrik is an alternative means of resolving legal disputes at community level by the local leaders.
