India Bhutan Judicial Cooperation: Supreme Court Clerkships for Bhutanese Grads

A Symbolic Step in India–Bhutan Legal Cooperation

In a move that underscores India’s deepening engagement with Bhutan in judicial and legal affairs, Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai announced that two law clerk positions at the Supreme Court of India will now be reserved for Bhutanese law graduates. The announcement came during his official visit to Thimphu as part of the broader India–Bhutan Vision Statement, an initiative focused on promoting cooperation in governance, education, and rule of law.

The CJI’s decision marks a historic first — opening the doors of the Supreme Court’s prestigious clerkship program to foreign law graduates. For Bhutan, this represents a rare opportunity for its young legal professionals to gain first-hand exposure to one of the world’s most active and complex judicial systems. For India, it is a continuation of its long-standing commitment to capacity building and judicial diplomacy in the South Asian region.

“The judiciary is not just an institution of adjudication; it is a bridge of understanding between peoples and nations,” CJI Gavai said during his address in Thimphu, noting that shared legal traditions can “deepen mutual respect for the rule of law.”

What the Law Clerkship Program Represents

The Law Clerk-cum-Research Associate program at the Supreme Court of India is one of the most sought-after opportunities for young law graduates in the country. Selected clerks assist judges in research, drafting, and comparative legal analysis. They are trained in rigorous legal writing, case law synthesis, and the constitutional methodology that underpins the Supreme Court’s decision-making process.

For a foreign legal graduate, participation in this program is both a learning and cultural exchange. It offers:

• Exposure to judicial process in one of the world’s largest common law jurisdictions.

• Mentorship under Supreme Court judges, providing practical insights into constitutional interpretation, human rights jurisprudence, and procedural justice.

• Academic collaboration with Indian legal scholars and researchers.

By opening two positions to Bhutanese graduates, the Supreme Court has effectively internationalized the clerkship program — creating a new channel for cross-border judicial learning within the South Asian region.

Strengthening a Long Legal Partnership

India and Bhutan have shared deep institutional ties for decades, but cooperation in legal and judicial fields has historically remained modest. Over the past few years, however, that dynamic has begun to shift.

In 2023, both nations adopted the India–Bhutan Vision Statement for Peace, Prosperity, and Friendship, a document that laid out a roadmap for collaboration in areas including law, technology, and education. Among its objectives was the promotion of capacity building for Bhutanese institutions, particularly in law, governance, and judicial administration.

This new law clerk initiative falls squarely within that framework. It aligns with India’s strategy of supporting Bhutan’s institutional strengthening efforts — from public administration to justice delivery — through training, legal exchange, and joint academic programs.

Justice systems in both countries operate on the common law model, a legacy of British legal tradition. This shared foundation makes collaboration both natural and mutually beneficial. Bhutan’s legal framework has been gradually evolving, balancing modern constitutionalism with Buddhist jurisprudential values — a synthesis that Indian legal scholars have long admired.

Judicial Diplomacy: India’s Soft Power at Work

The announcement also reflects India’s use of judicial diplomacy — leveraging its mature legal system as a soft power tool to engage with neighboring democracies. Judicial diplomacy involves sharing institutional expertise, supporting capacity development, and promoting judicial independence as a democratic norm.

Through this initiative, India reinforces its position as a regional anchor of rule-of-law practices, complementing its broader foreign policy goals. Such initiatives carry significant diplomatic weight because they go beyond symbolic gestures. They help:

• Build networks of trust between judiciaries.

• Transfer institutional know-how in case management, legal drafting, and digitization.

• Showcase India’s judicial model as one that balances independence, constitutional accountability, and social justice.

The program, while modest in scale, serves as a model for future South Asian legal cooperation — potentially paving the way for similar arrangements with Nepal, Sri Lanka, or the Maldives.

Bhutan’s Judicial Modernization and India’s Role

Bhutan’s judiciary, led by its Supreme Court established in 2010, has been steadily professionalizing over the last decade. Its constitutional framework — adopted in 2008 — emphasizes independence of the judiciary as a pillar of the democratic transition. Yet, as a small constitutional monarchy with limited legal infrastructure, Bhutan has often sought guidance and training from Indian institutions.

Several collaborative efforts already exist:

• Judicial exchanges between the National Judicial Academy (India) and the Bhutan National Legal Institute (BNLI).

• Scholarship programs for Bhutanese law students at Indian universities such as NLU Delhi and NALSAR Hyderabad.

• Joint workshops on e-courts, mediation, and judicial ethics.

By integrating Bhutanese clerks into the Supreme Court ecosystem, India is not only exporting expertise but also importing perspective — allowing Indian judges and clerks to learn from Bhutan’s distinctive legal philosophy, which emphasizes compassion, restorative justice, and Gross National Happiness as a measure of governance.

Voices from the Legal Community

The announcement has received strong support from both Indian and Bhutanese legal communities. Senior Advocate and former Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar remarked that the initiative “reflects India’s maturity as a judicial power willing to share its institutional capital with smaller neighbors.”

Legal scholars view it as a practical and forward-looking gesture. Professor Sonam Tshering, a legal academic in Thimphu, noted that “Bhutan’s young lawyers will gain not just technical skills, but exposure to how a massive judicial system functions — its discipline, its pace, and its intellectual rigor.”

Within India, some commentators have called it an “experiment in regional legal integration,” suggesting that such exchanges could help standardize certain procedural and ethical norms across South Asian judiciaries.

Beyond Symbolism: Institutional and Long-Term Impact

While symbolic diplomacy is often fleeting, this initiative has the potential for long-term institutional benefits if sustained and expanded. The inclusion of Bhutanese clerks in the Supreme Court’s professional environment could lead to:

• Enhanced research collaboration between the Indian and Bhutanese legal academies.

• Judicial fellowships allowing Indian clerks or judges to assist Bhutan’s courts or training academies in return.

• Cross-referencing of case law between the two nations, leading to a shared jurisprudential vocabulary.

• Development of a South Asian Legal Fellowship Network, where emerging jurists from the region gain exposure to each other’s systems.

The initiative also signals India’s recognition that the rule of law is increasingly transnational. Legal questions around technology, climate, or cross-border trade cannot be confined within national borders — and judicial cooperation helps ensure a shared normative understanding.

Rule of Law as a Regional Good

The larger vision behind such cooperation is not merely educational but strategic. South Asia, despite being home to over one-fifth of humanity, remains fragmented in its legal integration. Courts across the region often face similar challenges — backlog, access to justice, and procedural delays — yet there are few mechanisms for judicial dialogue or knowledge sharing.

By taking the lead, India positions itself as a custodian of regional legal development. The move is reminiscent of the “South–South cooperation” model in development policy, where nations of the Global South share expertise rather than rely solely on Western institutional paradigms.

For Bhutan, participation in such initiatives bolsters its judicial confidence and helps align its systems with international best practices without compromising its unique cultural and constitutional identity.

A Step Toward a Shared Legal Future

CJI Gavai’s gesture might appear modest — just two clerkships — but its significance extends well beyond numbers. It signals a reimagining of judicial engagement in South Asia, moving from occasional conferences to institutionalized collaboration.

In a region where courts often operate under political strain or capacity challenges, such gestures carry transformative potential. They represent a model of judicial partnership grounded in mutual respect and shared democratic values.

As Bhutanese law graduates prepare to join the Supreme Court’s corridors, the initiative stands as a quiet yet powerful statement: that justice, when shared across borders, strengthens not only nations but also the idea of law itself.