The Office of the Attorney General is an autonomous agency, established to carry out the responsibilities within the domain and authority of the Government and such other legal matters as may be entrusted to the Office. The Attorney General is an Eminent Jurist appointed by the Druk Gyalpo, by warrant under his hand and seal on the recommendation of the Prime Minister in accordance with Article 29(2) of the Constitution of Bhutan and serves a tenure of five years or until attaining the age of sixty-five years whichever is earlier. The Attorney General is eligible for reappointment and may serve a maximum of two terms. 

The Attorney General, as the chief legal officer, is the legal advisor to and legal representative of the Government. It is the duty of the Attorney General to aid and advise the Royal Government upon legal matters, prosecute and defend the interests of the State, and discharge other functions in pursuit of justice. In the performance of his duties, the Attorney General shall have the right to appear before all courts of law in Bhutan and represent the State in any court of law outside the Kingdom of Bhutan. The Attorney General has the power to institute, initiate, and withdraw cases and is bestowed with the right to appear before all courts of law as well as express opinions on any legal question in Parliament.

According to section 63 of the Office of the Attorney General Act 2015, the Attorney General is accountable to the Druk Gyalpo and the Prime Minister. To this effect, the Attorney General is mandated to submit an Annual report to the Druk Gyalpo and the Prime Minister.

The Attorney General is entrusted with the sacred responsibility to serve the Tsa-Wa-Sum, the King, Country, and People. He must ensure that the rule of law and justice is upheld. According to section 93 of the Office of the Attorney Act 2015, the Druk Gyalpo may on the recommendation of the Prime Minister remove/require the Attorney General to resign, on the following grounds:

1. Physical, mental, or other incapacity rendering the Attorney General incompetent in carrying out his duties; or
2. Violation of any provisions of the Office of the Attorney General Act 2015; or 
3. A conviction under any other law.

Organogram of the Office of the Attorney General 

The restructuring of the Office organogram, approved by the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) on 28 June 2016 created a career pathway for government attorneys that includes the position of two Directors for the Department of Justice and Department of Legal Services respectively. The constitutional mandates of this Office are executed through the Department of Justice and the Department of Legal Services. In addition, section 7 of the Office of the Attorney General Act 2015  empowers the office to establish more departments, divisions, and sections, as deemed necessary by the Attorney General in consultation with the RCSC. A new  ‘International Legal Affairs Division’ has been approved which will mainly focus on matters of public international law and environmental law. 

• Attorney General
  a) Media Focal Unit:
  The unit is tasked with handling all matters related to media, vis-a-vis legal matters handled by the office, esp. cases that come under the scrutiny of the media. The role entails a wide range of responsibilities, from preparing press releases and organizing press conferences and interviews, to liaising with media contacts and monitoring media coverage of the Office, manage the contents of the OAG website
  The Media officer:
  • Act as the official representative/focal of the OAG and handle all matters related to the media.
  • Facilitate/Coordinate writing, editing and distributing press releases, media advisory, statements and other media materials.
  • Handle media enquiries and arrange interviews/press conferences where required.
  • Constantly liaise with national journalists and other media contacts and maintain effective relationships.
  • Closely monitor media coverage on the OAG, and inform/advise the Office/management.
  • Coordinate/Organize the OAG’s promotional events and update on the website accordingly.
  • Manage contents for OAG’s website and official social media pages.
  • Administer the OAG’s account on social media such as facebook, Twitter, etc. and ensure that these media channels remain engaging and active.
  • Coordinate the collection of Journal Articles and publication of books
  • Any other tasks assigned by the Management of the Office with regard to media
  • Any other tasks as per their terms of reference.
  • The Attorney General and the Dy. Attorney General or division head supports the media officer in carrying out the aforementioned duties principally by creating a conducive environment for productive engagement, and in providing regular and authentic information there under.
• Department of Justice
  The Department of Justice strives to promote fair and impartial proceedings in  both criminal and civil matters. The Department performs its mandates  through the Prosecution and Litigation Division (PLD) and the Property and  Judgement Enforcement Division (PJED) in appraisals or advising the government on court orders and execution of judgements.
  a) Prosecution and Litigation Division
  The Prosecution and Litigation Division is vested with the mandate to  prosecute and litigate criminal & civil cases on behalf of the State. It derives  its authority from Article 29 of the Constitution and Section 10 of the Office  of the Attorney General Act 2015.
  A major share of the workload are the investigation reports of cases – involving  offenses graded misdemeanor and above – referred for prosecution by the RBP which amounts to about 1000 cases annually, while the ACC refers all their cases, which is about 15 to 20 cases annually, irrespective of the degree of offense.
  Besides, the Office also receives cases from Ministries and other State agencies.
  The Prosecution and Litigation Division carries out two core mandates-prosecution and litigation:
  • Prosecution:
    • Review facts of the case expeditiously
    • Ask for additional evidence from case referring agency, if necessary
    • determine if the act constitutes offense
    • initiate case if the case fulfills evidential and public interest test consideration for prosecution
    • drop the case if the case fulfills public interest test consideration against prosecution.
    • withdraw cases and enter into plea bargain
  • Litigation:
    • represent in civil cases filed against government in courts and tribunals
    • seek appropriate remedy from courts when the person/public servant fails to comply with the order of lawful authority
    • Seek declarations, orders, directions or writs as may be appropriate in the circumstances of each case
    • preponderance of evidence is used for initiation of litigation
    • Advise the Government on orders passed by Courts in and outside Bhutan as and when required;
    • Render necessary advice and support to the Government for the execution of judgments when required.

  b) Property and Judgment Enforcement Division

 Property and Judgment Enforcement Division (PJED) was formally established in August 2021, which was  formerly a unit under the Prosecution and Litigation Division. Subsequently, the Division introduced the issuance of non-revenue receipts to replace the earlier method of issuing hand written receipts.  

The establishment of the division has helped the office in facilitating the timely payment of compensation to victims, restitution of money to the state, uniform follow-up administration action, ensuring rehabilitation and reintegration of defendants, monitoring of diversion in CICL cases, search and seizure of the property, and auctioning of the seized property among others. 

The division has developed specific guidelines to improve service delivery and transparency as follows:

• Standard Operating Procedure for PJED 2022.
• Guidelines on Sealed Bid 2022.
• Seized Property Management Manual 2022.
• Guideline on Escrow Money Management by the OAG 2022.
• Foundational Guideline on PJED 2021.
• Nine forms

Department of Legal Services
Pursuant to section 51 of the Office of the Attorney General Act, 2015, the division has three statutory mandate which are:

1. Legal Services Division
   Pursuant to Article 29(3) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan and section 51 of the Office of the Attorney General Act, 2015, the primary mandate of the Legal Service Division (LSD) is to assist the Attorney General in carrying out his responsibilities as the legal advisory and legal representative of the State. The Division provide following three statutory mandate amongst others:

• • To provide legal services and opinions on matters of law and such other issues assigned to it by the Government;
  • To provide legal education to legal personnel; and
  • To disseminate information to enhance awareness of laws among the people.

The Division renders the above mandate through its specialized units namely the Legal Advisory Unit and the Dissemination Unit. 

1. • Legal Advisory Unit 
   • Legal Dissemination Unit

The Dissemination Unit focuses on the following mandates:

• provide legal education to legal personnel;
• disseminate information on law to the lawyers and general public;
• enhance legal awareness amongst general public;
• design and frame manuals, standard operating frameworks and other legal documents to enhance legal awareness;
• train prosecutors and government lawyers on specific area of laws;
• provide induction to the newly recruited lawyers;
• enhance internship programs of the law students and graduates; and
• render any other dissemination not within the mandate of the Finance and Corporate Division and the International Affairs and Environment Division.

2. The Drafting and Review Division
The Drafting and Review Division (DRD) under the Departments of Legal Services is a frontline service provider for legislative drafting that collaborates with agencies across government, to deliver on the government’s objectives of providing professional legal services in terms of drafting consistent and enforceable laws to the state. 

The Division is entrusted with a range of functions under  the Office of Attorney General Act  2015 that includes to;

1. draft bills  and delegated legislation;
2. review of laws and delegated legislation that are drafted by other government ministry or agencies; 
3. constitute a committee to review laws on the instruction of government; and
4. be the depository of all the laws in Bhutan.

• Drafting and Law Reform Unit
  The Drafting and Law Reform Unit focuses on the following mandates:
  • draft new or amendment government bills;
  • ensure that the ministry furnishes the clear policy guideline or drafting instruction for new or amending bills, and delegated legislations;
  • draft new delegated legislation for government agencies;
  • draft revision of existing  delegated legislation for government agencies; and
  • constitute a Law Review Committee as and when required; and 
  • train legal officers,  law students, or any other personnel in ministries and agencies on legislative drafting.
• Review Unit
  The Review  Unit focuses on the following mandates:
  • review  new or amendment government bills drafted by other government ministry or agency;
  • review new delegated legislation drafted by government agencies;
  • review the revision of existing  delegated legislation drafted by government agencies; and
  • reprint and maintain the depository of existing laws.
• Legislative Impact Assessment Unit
  The Legislative Impact Assessment (LIA)  Unit focuses on the following mandates:
  • facilitate proponents to prepare LIA report for government bills;
  • provide professional support to all officials engaged in LIA process;
  • review and analyze  the LIA Report submitted by government ministries or agencies; andtrain legal officers in ministries and agencies on the legislative impact assessment handbook and tools.

3. Finance and corporate division

• Finance Legal Service Unit
  The Finance Legal Service Unit (FLSU) is mandated to render financial legal services such as:
  • rendering legal opinions to the government as its advisor;
  • carrying out reform reviews on germane contemporary issues;
  • developing advocacy or training programs;
  • training government lawyers on select and appropriate subjects to ensure the dissemination of knowledge and honing of skills, and continuum of the rendering of specialized financial and corporate legal services; and
  • assisting prosecutors in case analysis or legal interpretations, and attorneys from other divisions with expert opinions.

The above-stated services are specifically on financial law, and public finance. The FSLU also coordinates with legal officers in ministries and government agencies in executing the mandates to underscore a consultative and well-informed approach to solving legal problems.  The subject matters commonly referred to in the FSLU concern review of international loan or grant agreements, taxation, MoUs, advice on procurement modes and processes, dispute resolution mechanisms under government contracts, and arbitration-related matters. 

• Corporate Legal Service Unit
  The Corporate Legal Service Unit (CLSU) is mandated to render financial and corporate legal services such as:
  • rendering legal opinions to the government as its advisor;
  • carrying out reform reviews on germane contemporary issues;
  • developing advocacy or training programs;
  • training government lawyers on select and appropriate subjects to ensure the dissemination of knowledge and honing of skills, and continuum of the rendering of specialized financial and corporate legal services; and
  • assisting prosecutors in case analysis or legal interpretations, and attorneys from other divisions with expert opinions.

The above-stated services are specifically on company law, commercial law, and intellectual property law. The CLSU also coordinates with legal officers in ministries and government agencies in executing the mandates to underscore a consultative and well-informed approach to solving legal problems.  The subject matter commonly referred to in the CLSU concerns consumer protection, and trade-related issues, among others. 

4. The International Affairs and Environment Division

The International Affairs and Environment Division (IAED) is responsible for:

1. providing legal advice to all Government departments, Ministers, Human Rights, and Foreign Relations Committee of the National Council, and statutory boards on international law issues;
2. Render legal opinions in civil litigation matters involving environmental matters;
3. legal vetting on MoUs, bilateral and multilateral agreements including international memberships;
4. undertaking the necessary treaty-making processes upon the written directives of the Cabinet Secretariat;
5. serving as a Stakeholder from the OAG for the treaty-making process of the Government;
6. representing Bhutan at bilateral and Multilateral negotiations and in international disputes, trade-related proceedings, and other international forums;
7. negotiating and drafting multilateral and bilateral legal instruments;
8. assisting in the translation of Bhutan’s obligations into domestic legislation;
9. advising on the domestic implementation of Bhutan’s international obligations;
10. assisting the Department of Law in handling and processing all formal requests for mutual legal assistance and extradition.
11. developing training modules and providing training to develop the expertise in Public International Law and the domestic environmental laws.
12. assisting attorneys of other divisions with expert opinions on areas of Public International law.

• International Affairs Unit
  The International Affairs Unit’s  (IAU) work shall cover a diverse range of matters of  Public International Law and will also  assist the Environment Affairs Unit (EAU) in its expertise in International Environmental Law matters if required, and its services  to the other Divisions if requested. The IAU will assist the Missions, Embassies, and Consulate Offices when referred by the Cabinet Secretariat.
• Environment Affairs Unit
  The Environment Affairs Unit (EAU) work shall cover the exclusive subject matter of Environment law in its domestic application and governance. The EAU will also provide legal services including opinions, assistance, and representation if directed by the Attorney General in civil litigation suits filed against the Government. The EAU and IAU shall synergize their efforts when it concerns Environmental treaties.

Secretariat Services

1. Human Resource Section
The Human Resource Section assists in implementing the HR initiatives in the areas of recruitment, organizational development, professional growth, performance management in consonance with the organizational development strategy and as per the Bhutan Civil Service Rules and Regulations 2018. It maintains current information or statistics on Human Resource requirements, assists in organizing workshops/ seminars/conferences related to Human Resource, Planning and Employment, reviewing performance evaluations of the employees and submitting reports to immediate supervisors for improvements and commentaries. It also serves to process recruitment, selection, training and other HR related activities for all civil servants (in line with the Bhutan Civil Service Rules and Regulations 2018) within the organization, besides also maintaining leave records, encashment, and transfer details of employees. 

Furthermore, the HR section also serves as the bridge between the Royal Civil Service Commission and the Office, in upholding the mission and vision of the RCSC, “Ensure that uniform rules and regulations on recruitment, appointment, staffing, training, transfers and promotion prevail throughout the civil service. Continue to maintain a small, compact and an efficient Civil Service that is merit based”. Also, the HRO is mandated to reduce the turnaround time (TAT) of any HR actions throughout the civil service in pursuant of maintaining a small, compact and an efficient civil servant. The Section also develops and formulates strategic long-term and short-term plans and programs for the Office in consultation with the Gross National Happiness Commission. 

The HRO shall:

1. function in accordance with the Civil Service Act 2010, Bhutan Civil Service Rules and Regulations 2018 and such other job description as approved by the Royal Civil Service Commission;
2. conduct training to improve the capacity of the lawyers under the Office;
3. oversee the human resource need of the Office in consultation with the Deputy Attorney General, Directors and Chief Attorneys;
4. arrange funding for long term training and short-term training for lawyers under the OAG; and draft Five-Year Human Resource master plan in consultation with the Deputy Attorney General, Directors and Chief Attorneys.
5. assist in formulating national development plans;
6. undertake necessary actions in submitting Legislative Proposal, if a need for enactment of new legislation is recommended;
7. attend committee meetings to undertake Legislative Impact Assessment;
8. assist in preparing and coordinating the formulation of five-year plans; assist in monitoring and reviewing plans and programs; participate in annual planning and budgeting exercises;
9. compile and review quarterly, half-yearly and annual progress reports;
10. assist in preparing guidelines for monitoring and evaluation;
11. undertake correspondences related to plans, programs and projects for approval;
12.  participate in research and evaluation studies;
13. monitor and supervise employees under Assistants, Supervisory and Support Category (SSC) and General/Elementary Support Category (ESP/GSP) ; and
14. perform works as assigned from time to time.

2. Dzongkha Proficiency Section

The Dzongkha Unit is tasked with an important function to serve professional translation of Dzongkha to English. Besides the primary function, the Unit also conducts various Dzongkha development seminars and training to assist Attorneys enhance pleadings and submissions skills. As such, strengthening Dzongkha Language proficiency and competency has become crucial for empowering prosecutors so that they can communicate effectively and efficiently in the court submissions, possibly aiding in gaining citizens’ confidence in the justice services.
The  Sr. Language Development Officer shall:

1. translate Rules of Procedure (RoP), Frameworks, Manual Books, Guidelines etc. into Dzongkha as and when framed;
2. translate bills and delegated legislations
3. translate Investigation Reports (from English – Dzongkha) referred by the ACC;
4. review court submissions (in terms of Dzongkha grammar and language structure);
5. translate office website contents from english to  Dzongkha as and when updated;
6. conduct Dzongkha promotional activities like training and workshops for legal professionals and office staff;
7. liaise with other organizations related to the development of spoken and written competency of Dzongkha; and
8. ​​plan, initiate and coordinate literary, research or other publication of works in Dzongkha.
   

3. Administration and Finance Division (AFD)
The Administration and Finance Division of the OAG comprises three Sections namely: The Finance Section, Procurement Section, and Library. The serves a vital role in ensuring the smooth functioning of the Office and in providing continual local transportation to Courts in Thimphu. The Finance Division maintains proper documentation and record-keeping of the Office for audit purposes and proposes the Office budget to the Ministry of Finance to ensure traveling claim allowances to the Prosecutors are adequately provided to enable the Office to prosecute and litigate cases without any financial obstruction among others. The job nature of the Prosecutor demands them to travel all the twenty dzongkhags throughout the year as they register cases and attend hearings when summoned by the courts. The Library is also placed under this division to assist in its maintenance and administration while serving as a repository of national legislations and supporting the Research Section.

Accounts Section

• • Submission of budget proposal to Department of National Budget after collecting the writeup from respective department heads and project manager.
  • Discuss about the approved budget received from the Department of Budget  with the Finance Committee and apportioned the fund accordingly.
  • Timely payment of bills of current and capital activities  
  • Remittances of 2% TDS deducted from suppliers bills to RRCO
  • Disbursement of Salary  on the 26th of every month
  • Remittances of Provident Fund (employee and employers contribution), GIS, house rent, ToS,HC
  • TADA payment for meeting, training, workshop and official tour 
  • Payment of fuel for official vehicles
  • Supplementary additional and incorporation request send to GNHC and Department of National Budget as and when required in the office
  • Re-appropriate from one activity to another activity whenever required  
  • Submission of budgetary release forcast every month before 25th to Department of Public Accounts after confirming the amount with project manager and respective department heads
  • Submission of budget monitoring tool plan and progress report to Department of Budget quarterly 
  • Do bank reconciliation after receiving bank statement from bank at the  end of the every month  
  • Month closing at the end of every month 
  • Printing and filing of vouchers with all the supporting documents in the respective file monthly for the audit purpose.
• Administration Section
  • function in accordance with the Civil Service Act 2010, Bhutan Civil Service Rules and Regulations 2018 and such other job descriptions as approved by the Royal Civil Service Commission;
  • prepare, and conduct official functions as and when required;
  • undertake procurement activities for official equipment and stationeries;
  • coordinate and facilitate meetings and other functions of the office;
  • ensure organization or administration of the Office in consultation with the Deputy Attorney General, Directors and Chief Attorneys;
  • Plan and supervise the budget according to the Five-Year planned budgets; and
  • pass financial bills and maintain the record of the funds.
  • Assist HRO/Planning Officer in the daily HR functions

4. Library and Depository Section
The Library Section maintains a collection of national legislation and international laws, legal journals, legal jurisprudence, domestic and foreign judgements and various law books to enable academic research and references. The Library also facilitates the Drafting Division as a depository of laws.

The librarian shall:

1. manage library of the Office;
2. Providing information to officers on library policies and procedures.  number and update law books in the library; Updating and collection of National law of Bhutan such as Acts, rules, regulations, and conventions etc.
3.  maintain a register of books issued and returned. Maintain record on issuing and receiving of library books from officers.
4.  assist Attorneys in conducting research, referencing, and citations;
5. recommend and coordinate procurement of books commonly sought by officials;
6. prepare and maintain records of Annual Reports of the Office in coordination with other Divisions and Departments,  and Assisting in compilation of office annual reports.
7. store case reports, or case files after the case closure;
8. enable access and manage digital and online law library facilities; 
9. explore online resources and plan for the procurement of paid online law library facilities;
10. coordinate with concerned Divisions and Attorneys and digitally archive court judgements and decisions in collaboration with ICT Division;and
11. print and publish documents for the Office, in consultation with other Departments.
12. Arranging the library books according to cataloging systems. 
13. Assist to officers for compilation and formatting the publication of any books such as acts, rules, regulation, guidelines etc.

5. Information and Communication Services
To adapt and keep pace with the digital world, the Office has adopted a paradigm shift to digitizing and replacing conventional methods of working. The ICT Division of the Office is mandated with this onerous yet vital role to enable technology adoption to implement a secure, dynamic, efficient, and economic working mechanism. By replacing conventional methods of conducting court proceedings and meetings, with virtual hearings and webinars, the ICT Division has not only made working easier and cost-effective but also secure and expeditious The Division not only promotes ICT development in the OAG but also functions as a focal point for the Department of Technology, Ministry Guideline on the OAG Roles, and Mandates 56 of Information and Communication to coordinate ICT development within the government. A Chief ICT Officer heads the Division. In general, the ICT Officials in ICT Division are responsible for the following:

Design, development, maintenance, and updating content of websites; 

1. Ensure LAN and Internet connectivity; 
2. Oversee the design and development of information systems; 
3. Ensure uptime of application systems; 
4. Ensure that the security of the data and systems are not compromised; 
5. Maintain periodic backup of databases and files; 
6. Responsible for optimization of the systems and ICT processes; 
7. Responsible for initiating procedural changes to reduce the turnaround time for service delivery; 
8. Promote the usage of ICT to the staff through user training such as basic computer troubleshooting, google apps usage, etc.; 
9. Maintain proper documentation and mapping of systems and networks; 
10. Provide technical specifications and obtain clearances for the procurement of hardware and software; 
11. Provide computer/networking related hardware and software troubleshooting services; m. Responsible for configuration of Access points and creating user accounts on network and systems; and 
12. Responsible for updating operating systems and other software.