RENUKA RAI | Thimphu
The Royal Court of Justice maintained strong case disposal performance in 2025 despite handling thousands of cases across multiple levels of courts, according to the Judiciary of Bhutan Annual Report 2025.
The report shows that courts across the country collectively managed 9,090 cases during the judicial year, encompassing the Supreme Court, High Court, Dzongkhag Courts, and Dungkhag Courts.
A significant proportion of these cases were resolved within the year, with disposal rates remaining above 80 percent across all tiers, reflecting the Judiciary’s sustained efforts to improve efficiency, reduce backlog, and enhance access to justice.
At the apex level, the Supreme Court dealt with 219 cases during the year, including appeals and miscellaneous matters. Of these, 179 cases were decided, leaving 40 pending at the close of the year and resulting in a disposal rate of 81.7 percent.
The Court registered 163 new appeals from the High Court in addition to cases carried forward from 2024. Most appeals were dismissed due to weak grounds, with 94 appeals rejected on this basis alone.
The Supreme Court partially reversed 36 High Court judgments, affirmed 31, and fully reversed 16, demonstrating active appellate scrutiny. Only one case remained pending beyond 12 months, indicating that long-term pendency at the highest court remains minimal.
The High Court recorded one of its strongest performances in recent years, handling a total of 408 cases in 2025.
This figure included appeals from Dzongkhag Courts, appeals from the Bhutan Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre, and pending cases from the previous year.
Of these, 377 cases were decided, resulting in a disposal rate of 92.4 percent, with only 31 cases pending at year-end. Importantly, no High Court case remained unresolved beyond 12 months.
The High Court affirmed 189 judgments appealed from lower courts while partially reversing 126 judgments. Its Enforcement Section enforced 156 judgments out of 186 enforcement cases, underscoring growing institutional attention to the execution of court decisions.
Dzongkhag Courts continued to shoulder the bulk of Bhutan’s judicial workload in 2025, functioning as the primary courts of first instance for most civil and criminal matters.
These courts registered 5,639 new cases during the year, bringing the total caseload to 6,350 cases when pending matters from 2024 were included.
Out of this total, 5,618 cases were decided, while 731 remained pending at the end of the year, resulting in an overall disposal rate of 88.4 percent.
Despite handling heavy caseloads, the majority of Dzongkhag Courts maintained relatively low pendency levels, although pressures were more pronounced in high-volume jurisdictions.
Within the Dzongkhag Courts, Thimphu’s specialized benches accounted for a substantial portion of filings.
Commercial Bench II handled 565 cases during the year, Commercial Bench I recorded 471 cases, the Civil Bench managed 477 cases, the Criminal Bench registered 463 cases, and the Family and Child Bench handled 431 cases.
Outside the capital, Dzongkhag Courts with higher caseloads included Mongar with 378 cases, Paro Bench II with 384 cases, Samtse with 341 cases, Punakha with 310 cases, Trashigang with 244 cases, and Tsirang with 220 cases.
Despite these volumes, several Dzongkhag Courts maintained high clearance rates, including Chukha, which decided 153 out of 160 cases, Pema Gatshel, which resolved 120 out of 129 cases, and Sarpang, which disposed of 154 out of 163 cases.
Smaller Dzongkhags such as Gasa, Trongsa, Trashiyangtse, and Zhemgang recorded particularly low pendency figures, indicating more manageable caseloads.
Across all Dzongkhag Courts, only 36 cases remained pending beyond 12 months, with most of these concentrated in courts with the highest filing rates, particularly the Thimphu Criminal and Commercial Benches.
The appeal rate from Dzongkhag Courts to the High Court stood at 5.97 percent, suggesting that a majority of first-instance judgments were accepted by litigants.
Dungkhag Courts also maintained steady performance throughout 2025. The 15 Dungkhag Courts collectively registered 1,740 formal cases during the year, in addition to an opening balance of 373 cases, bringing the total caseload to 2,113 cases.
Of these, 1,750 cases were decided, resulting in a disposal rate of 82.8 percent, with 363 cases pending at year-end.
Phuentsholing Dungkhag Court recorded the highest volume, registering 633 cases and deciding 624 cases, while Gelephu Dungkhag Court registered 516 cases and decided 517 cases.
Several smaller Dungkhag Courts demonstrated near-complete clearance, with Wamrong achieving a 100 percent disposal rate and Panbang and Weringla each leaving only one case pending.
Only 62 Dungkhag Court cases remained unresolved beyond 12 months, and the appeal rate from Dungkhag Courts to Dzongkhag Courts was recorded at 5.02 percent.
Enforcement of judgments continued to receive greater emphasis across the judicial system in 2025. A total of 3,247 enforcement cases were registered across all courts, of which 2,920 judgments were successfully enforced during the year.
Dzongkhag Courts accounted for the enforcement of 2,304 judgments, while Dungkhag Courts enforced 460 judgments and the High Court enforced 156 judgments.
The Thimphu Dzongkhag Court’s Enforcement Unit recorded the highest enforcement activity, executing 1,124 judgments, reflecting the concentration of litigation in the capital and the expanding role of specialised enforcement mechanisms.
Court-annexed mediation remained a significant component of dispute resolution in 2025, helping to reduce court workloads and provide faster outcomes for litigants.
A total of 1,604 cases were resolved through mediation during the year, including 1,390 cases in Dzongkhag Courts, 212 cases in Dungkhag Courts, and two cases at the High Court.
In addition to adjudication and mediation, courts across Bhutan provided extensive notary services, delivering more than 14,000 services nationwide.
These included marriage certificates, document attestations, child travel documents, and the closure or transfer of bank accounts and shares.
Marriage certificates constituted the largest share of notary services, with Dzongkhag Courts issuing 5,295 certificates and Dungkhag Courts issuing 1,532. The High Court processed 111 applications for Foreign Marriage Certificates, approving 28 cases.
The Judiciary also experienced significant institutional developments during the year. Justice Norbu Tshering was appointed as the fourth Chief Justice of Bhutan on 23 July 2025, following the completion of the five-year tenure of Lyonpo Chogyal Dago Rigdzin.
Under the outgoing leadership, the judiciary implemented several reforms, including the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2022–2032, the establishment of a Media and Communication Unit, the creation of a Grievance Cell, and the formal delinking of the Judiciary from the Royal Civil Service Commission.
Judicial capacity-building and international cooperation also featured prominently in 2025. The Judiciary convened a National Judicial Forum on the GMC Law No. 1 of 2024 to examine legal frameworks governing the Gelephu Mindfulness City Special Administrative Region.
The visit of the Chief Justice of India in October 2025 further strengthened bilateral judicial cooperation, leading to the establishment of a clerkship exchange program for Bhutanese court registrars scheduled to begin in 2026.
