Nepal: Judges concerned on judicial independence

On November 23-24,07, Nepal Administrative Court (NAC) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) organized a two-day high-level workshop on "State Structure and Judicial Rights" involving judges of the Supreme Court, parliamentarians and secretaries of all the ministries, AIGs of police and Armed Police Force, the Nepal Army, lawyers and civil society members. Four papers were presented by Kashi Raj Dahal, Chairman of Administative Court, Justice Min B. Rayamajhi, FES head Dev Raj Dahal and secretary of the ministry of communication Yub Raj Panday respectively on various themes which was followed by discussion from the floor. Judges were mainly concerned about judicial independence and argued that some of the provisions of the Interim Constitution 2007 have undermined the independence of judiciary, for example,  there is a provision to submit the annual report of the Supreme Court to the prime Minister, the presence of his representative in the Judicial Council and the authority of the PM to designate Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court for any job and the lack of autonomy of judiciary. Justice Min B. Rayamajhi expressed worry about the non-execution of court verdict which has been fostering impunity and threatening the rule of law.

Chief Justice Kedar Prasad Giri preferred to give more cases to Administrative Court to reduce the workload to Supreme Court. President of Nepal Bar Association Bishwo Kant Mainali urged the government to check criminal activities and political parties to stop hooliganism by their cadres. Minister  for State for Labor and Transport Ramesh Lekhak emphasized the judicial independence and politics of consensus to end the politics of deadlock. Minister for State for Public Administration Ran Chandra Yadav focused on inclusive state, federalism and mutual accountability of leaders. Secretary Panday supporting the need for judicial independence argued in a number of stay orders issued by the Supreme Court reforms in administration were affected. Justice Anup Raj Sharma admitted that the court has not been able to adapt the pace of political changes taking place in the country. Minister for Peace and Reconstruction, Ram C. Paudel and Speaker of Parliament Subash Nembang also shared their views in informal meeting. Participants felt that this kind of dialogue would be organized regularly to understand each other and learn from each other. Trust is a central aspect of reconciliation in conflict torn-society.

Posted on : 2007-12-10 09:35:48

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