Office of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission

The Office of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission performs all the administrative duties of the Commission. It also provides guidance to, and supervises, the works of the subordinate Justice Commissions.

The Office of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission is staffed by one Secretary General and other required number of staffs as recommended by him; they are appointed in consultation with the Kashag either on deputation from the general public servant, or through direct appointment by the Commission itself.

The Secretary General retires on the completion of 58 years of age. The Chief Justice Commissioner may, however, extend the period of his retirement whenever necessary.

Hierarchy of Justice Commission

As provided in the Tibetan Code of Judiciary, there are three levels of Justice Commissions. They are as follows:

• Supreme Justice Commission
• Circuit Justice Commission
• Local Justice Commission

Circuit Justice Commission

In every location of Local Justice Commission, a permanent or temporary Circuit Justice Commission may be established. The Circuit Justice Commission is an intermediate Justice Commission having appellate jurisdiction.

In every Circuit Justice Commission, there is at least one Justice Commissioner. The Supreme Justice Commission may appoint any qualified person to the post of Circuit Justice Commissioner.

Any party aggrieved by the final judgement of the concerned Lower Justice Commission may file an appeal before the Circuit Justice Commission on fulfilling the required conditions of appeal. Moreover barring those cases which fall under the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Justice Commission, an original suit for all other cases may be submitted before the Circuit Justice Commission under special circumstances.

Given the nature of the work, there is a need for Circuit Justice Commission in every location of the Local Justice Commission, irrespective of the latter's size or number. However due to the lack of resources, no Circuit Justice Commission has been established so far.

Local Justice Commission

Local Justice Commission, established either permanently or temporarily in the locality of Tibetan refugee settlements, is a Justice Commission where an original suit, or case, can be filed. At present, there are two Local Justice Commissions functioning: one at Bylakuppe which was established on 1 May 2001, covering 11 places (Tibetan settlements in Southern India) under its jurisdiction; and the other at Dehradun which was established on 9 November 2001, covering 21 places (Tibetan settlements in Northern India) under its jurisdiction; with one Local Justice Commissioner each.

The Supreme Justice Commission may appoint, either on temporary or permanent basis, the Local Tibetan Administrator (Settlement or Welfare Officer) or any qualified staff thereof, to act as the Local Justice Commissioner for a specific period of time, in addition to their administrative responsibilities. At the moment, we have altogether 15 such Local Justice Commissions (14 Justice Commissions in India and Nepal and one in Switzerland), which are as follows:

The details of the places falling under their respective jurisdictions are provided in the Code of Judiciary of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission.