The common wisdom is that Nepal’s legal infrastructure is too archaic and weak to function [effectively] in many fronts of the contemporary post-democratic Nepal rapidly immersing in the ever-globalizing world. Within the nation, there is an age-old tradition of not resolving social justice cases for eons be it ghar-jagga (land ownership disputes), chori-dakaiti (theft and murder), caste and gender discrimination etc., or in systemic cases that affect national and international development such as the inability to implement corporate and institutional reforms, copyright laws, corruption, human rights, and constitutional reform etc. Notwithstanding the criticism, there have been significant changes in the Nepali judiciary since 1990 that must be understood by anyone driving the SUVs of reform via the government, partisan politics, NGOs, INGOs or on personal fronts.
The talk will consist of a quick overview of the achievements and failures of the Nepali judiciary during the last 12 years with a focus on the problem areas that are ailing the Third Branch of the Nepali state system. The discussion will also tackle issues on legal and policy matters, institutional structures, expectation of the public, bottlenecks on reforms and the possible ways out.
Speaker: Ananda Mohan Bhattarai
The speaker, a court insider who has worked in different capacities in the Nepali judiciary for the last 20 years, is a District Judge since 1994. He holds a Doctorate in Law and a couple of Master degrees in different disciplines from Nepal and India. He is the author of the book “Displacement and Rehabilitation in Nepal, Policy Law and Practice” and a co-author in a few others. He has published more than two-dozen articles in Nepal, India and Australia. Currently, he is a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at MIT taking courses on environmental policy, law and human rights.
Our Request : Nyaya Bare Chhalphal Garna Harvard Aaunu
Date: January 30, 2003 Thursday
Time: 7:15 – 9:00PM
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ChhalPhal Discussion Series is a regular Nepal-related discussion program held in the Boston area. It usually meets on the last Thursday of each month with some exceptions. For more information, please contact chhalphal@chhahari.com.
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