Legal Codes; Civil and Criminal Procedure; Imagery; Legal Transplants
摘要
This paper presents a short history of the development of legal texts in Bhutan with some analysis of how the later texts reflect the globalized language of the rule of law refracted through recent attempts to anchor and legitimize Bhutanese court process with cultural imagery. It then moves to a discussion of religious cultural imagery and its recent fascinating use in the legal system, a change that has occurred in just the last twenty years. This imagery in the form of huge masks in the courtrooms comes from a key drama enacted throughout Bhutan at the annual tshechu (religious festivals) depicting the judgement of the dead by Yama, Lord of the Dead. The paper argues that the role and meaning of religious belief and its presence in the judicial sphere needs to be examined and re-examined in each context for its presence and use. Building on Brown (2015) the paper argues that we need to consider the different worldviews expressed in different periods, as reflected in the texts examined, when we consider the complex interrelationship between Buddhism and law in Bhutan.
目次
Abstract 77 1. Introduction 77 2. Law Codes and the Emergence of the Bhutanese State 79 Kathrim 80 The Laws of Bhutan 85 Thrimzhung Chenmo—The Supreme Law Code 86 Developing a Legal Vocabulary and Court Etiquette 89 3. A Drama of Justice: Judge, Prosecutor and Defence 90 The Hunter and the Householder 93 The Uses of Iconography 94 4. Bhutanese Law, Buddhist Law? 96 5. Conclusion 98 References 100
