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Home » General Information » Preliminaries

JUDICIARY IN NEPAL

PRELIMINARIES

Before the democratic achievements of 1951, the justice system was administered under the indigenous customary practices and religious rules. A code (commonly known as Muluki Ain) promulgated by the late King Surendra Bir Bikram Shah in 1854 was also influenced by the Hindu religious scriptures and customary practices. This code was the main instrument to administer justice in the country for nearly a century.

Along with the democratic achievements of 1950's Nepalese people started to follow the constitutional and legal rules developed in the West. The Government of Nepal Act 1948 was issued in the form of the first constitutional instrument incorporating some democratic ideals. However, this Act never came into force because of the continued reluctance of the Rana rulers and freedom struggle launched by the people. Immediately after the revolution of 1951, the Interim Government of Nepal Act was promulgated incorporating the principles of the Personal Liberty, Check and Balance, Independent Judiciary, Rule of Law and so on.

As the Government of Nepal Act and the Interim Government of Nepal Act, the laws and the constitutions issued thereafter were also influenced by the adversary system of legal tradition. The Constitutions of 1959, 1962 and 1990 recognized the precedents propounded by the apex court as one of the binding sources of law. Besides, the apex court was constitutionally allowed to review the parliamentary enactment and executive actions if they were deemed inconsistent with the Constitution.

The Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 (here in after referred to as the Constitution) issued in the form of sixth constitutional instrument, follows the adversary legal tradition in a constitutional monarchy. To establish an independent and competent system of justice viewing for the purpose of transforming the concept of the rule of law into a living reality is one of the basic objective of the constitution. Keeping this in mind the constitution has granted all powers relating to justice to the court and other judicial institution to be exercised in accordance with constitution, laws and recognized principles of justice.

The Constitution provides three tiers of Court which include the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Nepal, the Court of Appeal and the District Courts. Supreme Court is the Apex Court. All courts and judicial institutions except the constitutional assembly court, are under the supreme court. There is no distinction between Criminal and Civil court except some basic procedures. District Court is the Court of first instance upon which Court of Appeal hear appeal. In addition to these regular courts there is provision in constitution to establish special types of courts or tribunals for the purpose of hearing special types of cases by the law. According to these provision there are four Revenue Tribunals, one Administrative Court, one Labor Court, one Debt Recovery tribunal and one Debt recovery Appeal Tribunal and one special court are functioning under the respective laws. These institutions are under the judicial control of the Supreme Court.