Make Judiciary independent: CJ Giri
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal, Kedar Prasad Giri, has
said he is lobbying with the political parties represented in the
Constituent Assembly (CA) to make judiciary effective and independent
in the new constitution that will be drafted by the recently elected
CA.
Addressing a talk programme organised by London Chhalphal and
Britain-Nepal Academic Council (BNAC) jointly at the School of African
and Oriental Studies (SOAS), Russsel Square, London, on Friday, Chief
Justice Giri said the judiciary enjoyed a great degree of freedom
under the 1990 constitution. He, however, said there have been some
attempts to encroach upon the independence of the judiciary in the
interim constitution of 2063 BS.
The interim constitution has made provision for the Chief Justice to
be appointed by the Prime Minister upon the recommendation of the
Judicial Council and stipulatest that the Supreme Court submit its
annual report to the Prime Minister. CJ Giri is also the first
Judicial head in the country to be appointed to the post after a
parliamentary hearing. Constitutional experts have, however, strongly
criticised such provisions saying that they intend to compromise the
independence of the country's judiciary.
CJ Giri said there was a need to keep the judiciary out of the
influence of the legislature and executive. He did not elaborate. He
further said federalism couldn't function in the absence of an
independent and strong judiciary.
Addressing the function, Registrar at the Supreme Court, Dr Ram
Krishna Timalsena, said the Supreme Court had adopted the 'Zero
Tolerance' policy regarding corruption in the country's judiciary. He
admitted that judicial process around the world was slow moving but
said Nepal's judiciary was developing and devising new ways to settle
pending cases. He said out of nearly 13,000 cases pending in the
country's courts, nearly 5,000 were registered this year alone and
there was a backlog of nearly 7,000 cases. He said there were only 13
Justices at the Supreme Court at the moment while there was a vacancy
for 21 more.
Dr. Timalsena said Nepal's judiciary was working as an agent of change
as well as stability. Replying to a query, he said the concept of
'Jana Adalat' was anti-thetical to the notion of rule of law. He,
however, expressed hope that as the CPN (Maoist) was poised to lead a
new government, cases being considered by the "parallel courts" set
up by the Maoists in the past would come to the formal system of
judiciary. "Since the Maoists have emerged as the single largest party
in the CA, they should be given an opportunity to form the government.
We should honour the people's verdict," he added.
Speaking at the function, chairman of BNAC and head of the Dept of Law
at the Leeds University, UK, Professor Surya P Subedi said despite
employing some soft law instruments, Nepali judiciary has deliverd
progressive verdicts in the past. He said role of judiciary in
ensuring gender equality in Nepal needed to be commended. He also said
the possibility of training Judges and members of Nepali judiciary at
the SOAS and other UK institutions should be explored.
Prof. Michael Hutt of the SOAS, University of London, welcomed the
guests while Oliver Spencer Shrestha of the London Chhalphal conducted
the programme.
A Nepali team led by Chief Justice Giri paid an official visit to the
United Kingdom at the invitation of the British government. During
the visit they met Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips of Worth
Matravers and Attorney General Baroness Scotland QC, among others.
During the meeting, issues of bilateral judicial cooperation were
discussed, according to a statement issued by the Nepali embassy in
London. nepalnews.com July 01 08
