The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The 13th Five-Year Plan (FYP) aims to strengthen the state institutions to uphold the rule of law and provide the people with equal access to justice while promoting their active participation in national affairs. By effectively carrying out oversight responsibilities, it aims to reduce corruption and enhance integrity within society.
The progress towards achieving these goals will be measured through improvements in the country’s scores on the corruption perception index, voice and accountability index including voter turnout, national integrity score, and public satisfaction with justice services.
The plan is to create a citizen-centric justice sector by implementing an integrated data management system. The targets include increasing the annual clearance rate of cases, boosting the number of cases heard through an e-litigation platform, reducing administrative complaints related to corruption, and decreasing the pending enforcement rate for state-prosecuted cases.
The focus is on enhancing Parliamentarians and oversight bodies by harmonizing inconsistent laws, maintaining voter turnout level at 66 to 77 percent for National Assembly, 52 percent for National Council and 55 percent for the Local Government, and resolving a higher proportion of audit issues promptly within 1 year from date of issue.
The plan also calls for the Anti-Corruption Commission to elevate its performance score and conduct more proactive research and intelligence-based investigations.
Mitigating corruption risks in key sectors, like forestry, agriculture, healthcare, and public procurement, financial services, export and import, hydropower, tourism, environment is crucial.
While Bhutan ranks 39th globally in the rule of law index, challenges remain in delivering timely justice due to capacity and skill gaps. The lack of an effective enforcement system has led to unenforced judgments, impacting public trust in the judiciary.
Efforts are underway to provide legal aid to those in need and strengthen restorative justice measures, especially for children.
Addressing the rise in corruption is a top concern, as indicated by Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index for 2023.
