The Thrimzhung Chenmo and the Emergence of the Contemporary Bhutanese Legal System

In: The Spider and the Piglet: Proceedings of the First Seminar on Bhutan Studies ,. Thimphu, Centre for Bhutan Studies 2004, pp. 355-378 . ISBN 99936-14-19-X

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Abstract

In this paper, the author has sought to briefly outline the processes of agency and consciousness directly in relation to the legal transformations which have still taking place in Bhutan. Implicitly embedded in these processes of legal transformation was and is the desire to create a modern nation-state and secure a place for Bhutan in the wider geo-political arena. The Thrimzhung Chenmo and the legal transformation it introduced form part of this conscious process of transforming Bhutanese society. The abolition of the various categories of serf and slaves which existed in Bhutan until 1959 is in direct correlation to the equalisation of legal standing before the law for all living in Bhutan, with commoners and nobles transformed in to modern, self-discipling subjects of the nation state.