E/CN.4/1995/31/Add.3 page 5 D. The legislative branch 12. The National Assembly, created in 1953, is made up of 152 members as follows: 105 members are elected for 3 years by the voters of the 20 districts; 37 members are nominated by the Government from among the ministers, royal counsellors, high officials and heads or former heads of districts; 10 members are monks nominated by the State clergy. 13. The National Assembly holds one or two sessions per year, the date and length of a session depending on the importance of the subjects to be dealt with. In an emergency, it can meet in special session. E. 14. The judicial system The jurisdictional hierarchy is as follows: (a) The village headman constitutes the basic court. He adjudicates alone, on the basis of equity, in less important disputes. Appeals can be made to the district court; (b) There is a district court in each of the 20 districts. It is presided over by a magistrate appointed by the King and aided by assistants; (c) The High Court consists of six judges, four appointed by the King and two elected by the National Assembly from among its members (or former members). It serves both as a court of appeal against district court decisions and as a special court for matters involving State security (terrorism, etc.). Proceedings are brought before the High Court by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. F. The State clergy 15. There are some 3,400 monks paid by the State. In the 1950s the King launched an operation to buy up the wealthy estates, and in particular monastic land, for redistribution to needy peasants. 16. The State clergy is headed by the "Head Abbot", who is nominated, with the King’s assent, by and from among the senior monks. He also has responsibility for an independent organ which looks after the interests of the State clergy. II. DETAINEES OF NEPALESE ORIGIN 17. In the course of discussions with the Bhutanese authorities the Working Group was able to better understand what may be referred to as the "southern Bhutan problem", which owes its genesis to the presence of persons of Nepalese origin in Bhutan. The Government’s position was that prior to 1950 the