Trashigang to get new district court building

Thimpu: The chief justice Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye conducted the sa lhang tendrel (groundbreaking ceremony) of the new three-storied district court building for Trashigang dzongkhag on January 9.

The construction of district courts is aimed at delivering faster justice and strengthening the judiciary in the country. 'In every society, the ultimate goal of justice is the creation of a reliable, fair and efficient justice system and the delivery of justice requires establishment of structures, institutions and human resources,' said the chief justice.

The building will have two courtrooms, each with two exits for women and children and convicts. 'Separate entry and exit can ensure safety of the judges because, at present, both the convict and the judge enter through the same door,' said the project director and high court justice Jigme Zangpo.

The building, equipped with furniture, will have rooms for IT, library, reception, registration, administration and seats for policemen.

“But infrastructural development alone is not enough to render faster and fair justice to the people. To strengthen our human resources, we’ll soon send 15 drangpons for post-graduate studies (LLM) and further train those already with a master’s, ' said Jigme Zangpo.

The Trashigang drangpon Dasho Duba Drukpa said that villagers would no longer have to sit by the drangpon's office ladder. 'It will definitely enable us to deliver faster services.'

While villagers said that they won’t have to run from one place to another looking for offices. 'If the court has a separate building, then we can directly get there without any confusion,' said Ap Wangchuk from Pam.

Of the total budget of Nu 453 million, Nu 290M will be spent on the construction, that would take about 20 months to be completed, and the rest on human resource development.

Funded by DANIDA, three similar buildings have been built in Samtse, Samdrup Jongkhar and Phuentsholing, while those in Bumthang and Trongsa are nearing completion.