Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the potential role of the Supreme Court and its judges in relation to environmental protection in Bhutan. The paper will present a review of existing environmental laws and outline the potential role of the Supreme Court in relation to Article 5 of the Constitution.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on the role of the Supreme Court and its judges in relation to environmental protection in Bhutan. Bhutan is remarkable for its bio-diversity but its environment is fragile. This paper argues that the Supreme Court of Bhutan will have a major role in ensuring that the ordinary citizen can challenge potential decisions on the grounds of environmental protection.

Under Art 5 of the 2008 Constitution all Bhutanese are under duty to conserve the wider environment. This paper argues that based on the three key principles of the Aarhus Convention (access to information, public participation and access to justice) that the Supreme Court will have a major role in developing the rights of ordinary Bhutanese to challenge decisions. It suggests that following on from the Thimphu Declaration on the Environment in August 2013, that lessons on public interest litigation and recognition of locus standi can be usefully learnt from the example of the Supreme Court of India.