Appeals to the High Court continue to increase in absence of judges

High Court 8 March, 2010 - The hunt for nine high court judges, including the chief justice, has not even begun even as appeal cases continue to inundate the high court.

Since the beginning of the year, about 68 new appeal cases were registered, averaging at least one appeal case a day.  This is in addition to the 45 pending cases from 2009, including spillovers from 2008.  With the lone drangpon Tshering Wangchuk appointed as a Supreme Court (SC) judge last month, there are no judges.

Going by the Constitution, a national judicial commission has to be formed to nominate and submit recommendations to His Majesty to appoint high court justices and the high court chief justice.  But the prime minister has to appoint a new attorney general, one of the four members to form the national judicial commission. “The national judicial commission can’t be formed in the absence of the attorney general and, without the commission, appointments might take time,” said judiciary officials.

The former attorney general Rinzin Penjore was recently appointed as an SC justice. The judicial commission members also include the SC chief justice as commission chairperson, seniormost drangpon of the Supreme Court and the chairman of the legislative committee.

“Similar to the appointments of justices of the Supreme Court, the formation of judicial commission and high court appointments will also face delay,” said one of the appellants, a businessman in Thimphu.

Appellants said that March 16 to April 14 would be da nag, an inauspicious month, where major decisions cannot be taken.  “This will further delay the appointment process,” a litigant said.

Most of these appeal cases are monetary and matrimonial issues, involving payment to other parties, a registry official in the high court said.  He said that the litigants are buying time to prolong their payment to other parties.  Some disgruntled litigants, who appealed to secure justice, on the other hand, said they felt helpless knowing that the appointments would take time.

Hearings have been suspended since January this year.  One high court judge was appointed as an SC justice, while two others were superannuated in December 2009.

Courts in Bhutan registered 10,012 cases in 2009, a 14.7 percent increase compared with 8,732 registered cases in 2008.

“Appeal cases will reach the high court first and then go to the Supreme Court, which means that if the high court remains dysfunctional so will the Supreme Court,” said a lawyer, adding that the Supreme Court cannot entertain or review any appeal cases without high court judgment.

The Supreme Court may also seem incomplete with the fourth SC justice yet to be appointed.  The high court, on the other hand, remains just an institution with a vacant en masse, legal experts said.

With the much-delayed Supreme Court construction at Hejo in Thimphu still underway, the chief justice and justices of the Supreme Court are temporarily functioning from the high court office.  Chief Justice Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye had earlier said that the new buildings of the Supreme Court would be ready by June or July this year, at least the Chief Justice’s chamber.

Meanwhile, appeal cases continue to increase at the high court every day.