At the Memorial Stupa, Thimphu, with Ugyen Tshomo, Tshering Palden, and Tenzin Dema.

​After the high school presentation the students decide to have our driver take us to the Thimphu Chorten so I can do a little sightseeing. It was built in 1974 to honor the third Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1928–1972). It feels quiet, peaceful, spiritual. They explain to me that Buddhists will circumambulate the stupa 108 times while praying on their prayer beads. If not 108 times then an odd number. We walk around it 3 times.
I love working with students, learning from them, and seeing the culture and traditions through their eyes.

Just past the Shaba Secondary School entrance is a roof with red hot chiles drying on top. The afternoon is really too nice to talk about legal rights, but here we are, hoping to keep the attention of 60 students in Shaba's law club who, like us, would probably rather be doing something else. Deki (the peace sign) set up the program to talk about criminal legal rights to youth as her project for our Current Legal Issues Class. Tenzin, next to Deki, volunteered to drive and help with the program. Chejay joined to talk about the right to an attorney if you cannot afford one, a right that only exists on paper when the students present the program. 

Deki, Tenzin, and Chejay did an excellent job bringing this topic alive. The High School students commented on how interesting and interactive the program was. Some confirmed they had difficult encounters with the police. There were lots of questions. We almost never got to tea time, an important and welcome cultural tradition in Bhutan.

At the end of the day Tenzin had to return to campus to do his program on issues around forensic evidence, wrongful convictions, and what Bhutan should consider in developing its criminal legal system. The audience included JSW faculty and students. The goal is to create a more just legal system through education of future legal professionals on the perils of wrongful convictions. 

JSW School of Law is a palatial campus on a Himalayan mountain. A beautiful setting, but far from where the clinic work must be done. That does not keep JSW Law School's three clinics from connecting to the community. The clinic work for persons with disabilities is a good example of how clinics can overcome geographic isolation. 

For starters, we have our driver Ugyen and a Toyota Coaster bus to take us to the people. Although Bhutan has no traffic lights, and few traffic cops, the mountain roads and conditions can present a daunting challenge. I have thanked Ugyen for my life more than once. But that's another post to come.

The Human Dignity Clinic teamed up with NGOs to create an Access to Justice Toolkit for Persons with Disabilities. The students presented the Toolkit to the NGO on an early trip to the capitol Thimphu. The NGO was happy with the product. The next step was to teach persons with disabilities about the legal rights in the Toolkit.

The persons with disabilities community then conducted a workshop to sensitize us to their lives. This would help us to develop a Street Law program to teach them about legal rights and responsibilities. 

Above, the students follow a Street Law approach to develop interactive curriculum to teach persons with disabilities about their legal rights and responsibilities. This is an activity to get the audience hooked on law.
Below is the dress rehearsal for the first program to teach access to justice to persons with disabilities. The students try out their curriculum on each other and make adjustments to create an effective Street Law program.

From dress rehearsal to teaching persons with disabilities about access to justice. The students did a great job and the surveys reflected appreciation for their efforts. 

Kinley Zam is one of my Bhutan Current Legal Issues students who put on a movie night Wednesday to educate the community about her chosen topic. She showed the movie Long Shot, the Netflix documentary, not the Seth Rogen comedy. In less than 40 minutes the film shows how someone caught up in the system as a young man can be wrongly accused later in life, and put at risk of being executed for a murder he did not commit. Our students were moved by this high stakes case. As future legal professionals, they were inspired by the defense attorney and how hard he worked to represent his client. Curb Your Enthusiasm's Larry David's filming at a Dodger Game provides a possible alibi, or does it? Watch the film to find out. Thanks to the students who did such a great job putting this on and leading a discussion that lasted longer than the film! A power outage nearly canceled the event, but our resourceful students made it work.