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24 January, 2008 - The number of appeal cases to the High Court almost doubled from 173 cases in previous year to 304 in 2007, according to records maintained by the judiciary.
Observers attributed this to the non-application of laws retroactively by the lower courts on corruption cases.
Kuensel observed that the courts had dismissed corruption cases one after another by reasoning that they happened before the enactment of Penal Code in 2004 and the ACC act in 2006. "It clearly testifies that whatever crime was committed before 2004, no person is liable for punishment even if he or she committed a murder," said a concerned observer.
According to the 2007 case report released by judiciary, of the 304 cases that went on appeal to the High Court, 166 were affirmed, 22 settled through alternative dispute resolution, 60 were reversed, 24 went on appeal to His Majesty the King and the remaining 70 were either withdrawn, remanded, dismissed or disallowed from filling. There were 84 review petitions proffered to the Full Bench of the High Court.
Maximum appeals went from Thimphu court with 80 cases followed by Phuentsholing dungkhag court with 75, Paro with 32, 15 from Wangduephodrang and 10 from Bumthang.
According to the judiciary report, appeal was necessary and an indispensable component of natural justice."The judiciary will have to strike the right balance between the right to appeal and the dangers of the right being misused resulting in delays, harassment and a financial burden on the state and the respondents," stated the report.
Meanwhile, the number of cases tried and decided around the country has increased from 10,376 cases in 2006 to 11,501 in 2007, while pending cases dropped from 2,378 cases to 2,203. On an average, 26 judges of the dzongkhag and dungkhag courts have decided about 442 cases."Each judge is expected to decide 150 to 300 cases a year," said a judiciary official.
However, the number of new cases registered in 2007 increased to 11,342 from 9,738 in 2006 and of 11,342 registered cases 7,536 were decided within 108 days. Of the total 2,203 pending cases, 45 went beyond 365 days.
The five benches of Thimphu district court, which had 2,238 cases, the maximum, including 405 pending cases from previous year, decided 1,874. The Paro court decided 1,458 cases from 2,057, including 441 pending cases.
Among the dungkhag courts, the two benches of Phuentsholing court decided 738 cases from 1,022 followed by Gelephu, which decided 622 from 736.
According to the report, a total of 6,906 hearings were conducted by the judges from all the courts.
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