Human Rights and Foreign Relations Committee (HRFRC) holds consultation with the Department of Law and Order, MoHA.
The Human Rights and Foreign Relations Committee (HRFRC) of the National Assembly of Bhutan held a consultation meeting with the Department of Law and Order (DLO) under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) at the Lhen-zom Khangzang today. The discussions were held on the existing laws and the treaties and the DLO’s future plans to sign new treaties with other countries.
The DLO presented updates on the following:
The Extradition Act of Bhutan 1991;
The Extradition Treaty of 1996 with India;
The Mutual Legal Assistance and its Bill;
The transfer of the people who are convicted in other jurisdictions to Bhutan and from Bhutan to other jurisdictions.
The DLO informed that it would review the MLA after seeking GMC legal experts’ views and push for enactment. The Committee was informed that the issuance of security clearance certificates is under review. The meeting also discussed the possibility of the DLO to expunge criminal records which are not serious as some provisions in the rules and regulations are inconsistent with the Penal Code of Bhutan 2004 and 2011 amendments and the Convention on the Rights of the Child which Bhutan had ratified.
The Committee informed that there would be periodic meetings with DLO based on the urgency and importance of issues and solicited continued support from the DLO.
The meeting adjourned at 11.45 am.
