Bhutan: First ever law school requires new mindset

As the New York Times reported on 9 October 2016, Bhutan is setting up its first law school. This endeavor is struggling with Bhutan"s traditional Buddhist mindset: "[T]here is the challenge of defining law in a nation that has been governed for much of its history in semi-theocracy and by monarchs. And there is the difficulty of designing a curriculum that strikes a balance between educating students in handling disputes in a formal court system and through a village elder - a long-held custom stemming from a belief that justice based on conciliation maintains social harmony." Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "The concept of law and of legal recourses is still foreign to Bhutan and the concept of human rights in particular is easily perceived as being something typically Western. It remains to be seen if talking about rights from a perspective of dignity can meet this challenge. It is more important, however, that the Christian community in Bhutan gets the protection and space it deserves, no matter what legal system is followed."