DHARAMSHALA: The Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission has begun a three-day conference of Tibetan lawyers and law students from 28 – 30 June today. The conference aims to assemble the accumulated expertise of Tibetan lawyers and law students towards the Tibetan struggle movement. It also hopes to create more awareness about the responsibility and jurisdiction of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission among the Tibetan community in exile.

Chief Justice Commissioner Ngawang Phelgyal Gyechen of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission delivered the welcome address of the inaugural ceremony. Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay was the chief guest at the ceremony. The inaugural ceremony was attended by Secretary Tashi Phuntsok of the Department of Information and International Relations, who is a law graduate, and by the staff and lawyers of various branch justice commissions. Over 41 Tibetan lawyers, law students and personnels with law degrees serving various Tibetan organisations also attended the conference.

In his opening remarks, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay said that lawyers are an important constituent of any democratic society. Lawyers are particularly important to the Tibetan struggle because as advised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan exile movement is a democratic movement where lawyers play an important part by informing the fundamental rights of a human being and creating awareness within the exile Tibetan community about legal obligations towards the host country.

Traditionally, there are some contradictions between democracy and exile movements  because an exile group normally signifies unity, single leadership and a single voice where as democracy stands for diversity, opposition to single leadership and freedom of speech as opposed to one ideology. Therefore, its something to be proud of that the Central Tibetan Administration, even though being an exile government, is a fully democratic administration, the Sikyong said.

Secretary of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission Mr Tashi Gyatso delivered the thank you speech of the inaugural ceremony.