KP Sharma 

Royal Institute of Management will not offer the Post-Graduate Diploma in National Law (PGDNL), a one-year course designed for law graduates, from this year. Bhutan National Legal Institute (BNLI) announced it on January 3.

Until last year, RIM offered the course in collaboration with BNLI.

According to BNLI’s notification, doing away with the course is also in line with the transformation exercise in the civil service.

“The institute would not be in the position to facilitate the course from 2023 onwards” stated the notification.  It further stated that the institute doesn’t have enough resources and infrastructure to continue offering the course.

The RCSC last year announced its decision to discontinue Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (PGDPA) and Post-Graduate Diploma in Finance Management (PGDFM) from this year.

An official from BNLI said that preciously the institute supported RIM in terms of resources and expertise.

“RIM collects tuition fees for the course as they are permitted to do so,” he said.

He said that BNLI as a judiciary agency under the government cannot go with collecting fees and continue offering the course. “We don’t have our own infrastructure to accommodate the trainees.”

It is learnt that graduates from JSW Law School need not have to undergo the course as the PGDNL course is already embedded.

Instead, they will undergo the Foundational In-service Training programme, followed by the service-specific or immersion programme.

It means only the graduates who study law in colleges outside Bhutan have to undergo this course.

Meanwhile, some people question the future of students pursuing LLB courses outside Bhutan as they feel it is unfair to them.

The official said that they are currently discussing with relevant agencies and stakeholders how to facilitate the course to the graduates who come from outside.

Background

The course was started in the year 1995 at the RIM under the supervision and guidance of the Judiciary.

It was intended to address the acute shortage of law graduates and legal officers in the country.

The course was designed to provide the graduates with a thorough understanding of the Legal System of Bhutan.