July 3, 2011 General Introduction of Nepal Law Society 1982-2011 Nepal Law Society P.O. Box. 13211 Anamnagar, Kathmandu Phone : 4266735/ 4228497 Fax : 4228497 Mobile : 00977-9851033540 Email : nls@wlink.com.np Website : www.nls.org.np 1
GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF NEPAL LAW SOCIETY 1. Background of the Organization The Nepal Law Society (NLS) was established in 1982 A.D. by a group of like-minded legal professionals including judges, legal practitioners as well as professors. The Society is an independent non-governmental organization committed to the rule of law, human rights, women empowerment, local governance and decentralization. When it came into being, Nepal was in a closed system without democratic rights. It was felt that there was a need for a professional organization to study and take the country s judicial as well as legal sector on a path towards modernization. Its short-term objective, then, was how to make the judiciary sector people-friendly at a time when the country did not enjoy political freedom. Its major objectives were to help consolidate the rule of law even as it studied the global scenario and worked towards updating the country s constitution as well as human rights laws. After the restoration of democracy in 1990, the NLS worked as a key think-tank on constitutional, legal and judicial issues providing major inputs in the drafting of not only various laws and rules but also the Constitution. The NLS currently is engaged in advocating judicial independence and rule of law. It is also lending legal support and expertise to the Constituent Assembly in drafting the democratic constitution. 2. Vision Promotion and respect of rule of law, human rights and independent Judiciary and to promote popular awareness towards right to development, right to environment, human rights and fair electoral practices. 3. Mission Empowerment of the people within and outside the justice sector through research, seminars, workshops, training 4. Aims and Objectives The Society mainly seeks to achieve the following objectives: To promote understanding and respect of rule of law, human rights and independent judiciary To undertake research in different areas of Nepalese law To promote popular awareness towards the right to development, right to environment, human rights and fair electoral practices etc. The Society achieves the objectives through the organization of research, seminars, workshops, training programs, talk programs, symposium and publication of legal works of Nepalese scholars and other useful materials related to law. 2
5. Rules, Regulations and Membership The Society shall offer membership to the distinguished lawyers, jurists, judges, law teachers, and law researchers under the following conditions; Honorary Membership to any distinguished person or any Nepalese or foreign national who has rendered invaluable assistance in the development of this Society. Membership to a Nepalese national who has been involved in legal profession and legal research at least for five years. Associate Membership to any person involved in legal profession if it deems that such person can render assistance in the achievement of the goals of the Society. At present, there are 350 members, 150 associate members and 10 honorary members based across the country. The NLS has a focal point unit in each of the 75 districts in the country. Each focal point has local judge, lawyers, professors and civil society representatives as members. 6. Affiliated Membership International Bar Association International Commission of Jurists, Geneva 7. Program Areas The Society focuses its areas of work mainly on seven basic fundamentals: Constitutional Development Governance/ Decentralization Rule of Law Independence of judiciary Human Rights Electoral System Women Empowerment 8. Activities of Nepal Law Society The Society's activities are concentrated towards support for constitution making process, promotion of good governance, human rights, equity, women empowerment and independence of judiciary. A summary of its activities is mentioned below:- Constitutional Making Process The Society has consistently worked towards the promotion and modernization of constitutional development in the country. o Support for constitution making process In order to support the constitution-making process, the NLS has been providing technical and legal expertise. After the political change of 2006, the NLS's support was sought for the legal expertise. In partnership with the Parliamentarian Secretariat, the NLS helped in drafting the interim constitution, which paved the way for holding the Constituent Assembly election. 3
Currently, the NLS has been actively working to provide training and orientation to the CA members, CA officials, and media in technical and legal aspects of drafting. The NLS has partnered with International IDEA and CA Secretariat for this purpose. Till date, around 300 CA members out of 601 members have taken part in the orientation programs where even foreign legal experts were invited to share global experiences in constitution-making. About 25 CA members representing 10 parties who had legal background were given intensive training on technical aspects of drafting constitution. The NLS has been working closely with the CA Committees and has started producing commentary notes on the concept papers prepared by various committees. The Society has been implementing different programs including commentary notes on CA concept papers, draft constitution on behalf on civil society by mobilizing different experts, support for CA members to prepare amendment proposals, support for CA women caucus on women issues, pubic view collection etc. This partnership is ongoing and the Society has received various demands for further technical and legal support. The Society contributed immensely in the making of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 through advocacy and intellectuals inputs from national and international resource persons. The Society has been conducting every year a national level seminar and workshop on the occasion of Constitution Day and has collected ideas, opinions and comments in promoting the constitutional development process by inviting leaders of the political parties, judges, lawyers, professors, journalist, and representatives of the civil society. Good Governance/ Decentralization The Society has been conducting various programs towards the promotion and development of good governance and decentralization in Nepal. It is basically involved in the following areas:- o Policy Support Program The Society provided legal inputs to the government during the preparation of VDC, Municipality and DDC Acts and rules by providing draft laws after the restoration of the multiparty democratic system in Nepal in 1990. The Society had been regularly involved in collecting the views of different stakeholders and also provided legal inputs and mobilized intellectual resources for the formulation of Local Self Governance Act 1999 and its Rules in 2000. During the drafting period, the Society collected variety of opinions through seminar, workshop and consultation with different stakeholders and provided the feedbacks to the government to incorporate them in the laws. The Society conducted training and interaction programs for parliamentarians each year since 1996 to 2001 on good governance and decentralization. Altogether 200 parliamentarians from the House of Representatives and the National Assembly benefited from the program. Some parliamentarians belonging to different political parties including Nepali Congress (NC), Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) 4
were also sent to Switzerland and Germany on study tour on local governance system. The Society conducted nearly 200 seminars and workshop with policy makers and central level stakeholders to discuss the prevailing laws and get expert as well as public feedbacks on them. o Advocacy and Capacity Development Program Nepal Law Society has already spent 30 years advocating various issues related to the decentralization and good governance. Likewise, it has also continuously worked for the capacity development of local bodies, especially at the VDC level. The Society conducted training for local body office bearers at zonal and regional level in the first phase and district level in the second phase. Altogether 10,000 local body office bearers have benefited from the Society s training programs that provided them with the knowledge on legal rights of the local bodies, planning procedures, financial management and leadership role. o Facilitation The Society collected feedbacks from the local bodies and the stakeholders including governance and decentralization experts and shared them with the government officials and policy makers and implementers. At times, the Society facilitated the dialogue between the local bodies and the central government. The Society in cooperation with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has helped in the publication of a quarterly journal called Local Body Bulletin which deals with legal rights, decentralization issues, local level development issues and financial problems. Altogether 25 volumes of the Bulletin have already been published. Activities Related to Election The Society has worked as independent observer in three general, two local elections and CA election held in Nepal after the advent of multiparty parliamentary system and has published reports in this regard. The Society also provided legal inputs to the Election Commission when it produced different laws on electoral system. In each election, the Society also conducted training and workshop for election officers and observers including political parties on electoral system, election laws and code of conduct. Recently, the Society has also conducted different activities related with Constituent Assembly Election 2008. The Society has also established strong network in the name of Democracy and Election Alliance (DEAN) in partnership with FECOFEN and NIEFO. Under the DEAN, about 13000 observers were appointed and Election Observation Program was lunched in 75 districts. The Society has also partnered another election alliance- General Election Observation Committee (GEOC). The Society leads the GEOC, which has seven different member organizations. The GEOC is active during election times. During CA election, it observed election in 35 districts through 900 observers including professor, lawyers, teachers, human rights activists. 5
Human Rights Programs Since its inception, the Society has given special emphasis on the promotion and respect of human rights in the country. o Policy Support Activities The Society drafted National Human Rights Commission Act that was later enacted by the parliament leading to the formation of the National Human Rights Commission in Nepal. The Society has also conducted several workshops, interactions, trainings and orientations for police personnel, public prosecutors, CDOs and other law enforcement officials to promote an understanding of, and to encourage the respect of human rights in Nepal. These programs were organized in cooperation with the USAID and AusAID. The government officials, human rights commission officials, donors and civil society representatives have benefited from the programs. The Society also conducted South Asia Seminar on the Prevention of Torture in partnership with Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) Geneva, Switzerland in cooperation with Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Royal Norwegian Embassy and AusAID. The objective of the program was to share the issues related to the prevention of torture and to evaluate each other s experiences. Another objective was to explore possibilities to strengthen the national mechanisms in the countries concerned in order to ensure the respect for the rule of law and human rights. Altogether 50 participants including human rights activists, lawyers, judges and members of the human rights commissions representing seven South Asian countries plus some from Switzerland and France took part in the program. o Advocacy and Capacity Building Activities The Society has conducted training and interaction programs for civil society and human rights activists on human rights laws covering 70 districts across the country. The interaction programs and training programs imparted knowledge on the human rights laws and highlighted the problems people currently face. Altogether 20,000 people have benefited from the programs, which were implemented by the Society in cooperation with Norwegian Bar Association and International Bar Association Secretariat. Women Empowerment The Society has been providing trainings for elected women office bearers of local bodies, potential women candidates, office bearers of the civil society and female community workers in over 40 districts of Nepal. About 8000 elected women office bears of local government, 3000 potential women candidate (active women office bearers of the political parties), 2000 civil society women office bearers participated in the training programs. The Society has also involved policy making process (constitution, laws, by laws) and lobbing process in partnership with different political parties, civil society and experts. 6
Independence of Judiciary/ Rule of Law One of the key objectives of the Society is to promote the independence of judiciary and ensure the rule of law. It has undertaken various initiatives to achieve these goals. o Policy Dialogue The Society has been facilitating the policy dialogue among the Supreme Court, Appellate Court and District Court judges on regular basis. This effort is aimed at identifying the prevailing problems in the justice-dispensation. The Society also regularly keeps in touch with the Chief Justice and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to discuss these issues. Based on the feedbacks received from those dialogues, the Society conducts constant review of laws of Supreme Court, Appellate Court and District Court. Likewise, the dialogues are also intended to enhance the public faith on the judiciary, among others. o Capacity Development The Society has adopted the system of making the senior Supreme Court judges train the junior ones. Such trainings have been held in the valley as well as in various regions. Almost all the judges have received such training. The objective of this training is to polish and refine the capacity of the judges and to orient them towards modern concepts like commercial, cyber and constitutional laws and so on. Such orientations are expected to provide the judges with wider perspective. The Society has also worked towards systematizing the precedent system. Precedents established by the Supreme Court have been communicated to the Appellate and District Courts, which have been oriented towards the precedentbased decision-making methodology. The Society has also actively facilitated in the smoothening of relations between the Bar and the Bench by encouraging frequent contacts and interactions between the two. With the objective of building the capacity of lawyers, the Society actively lobbied for the revocation of the existing provision that allowed even the certificate level students to work as lawyers. It was found that this provision bred corruption among the lawyers. Subsequently, the provision was revoked and, as per the Society s recommendations, the lawyers now need to be graduates before they can plead in the courts. This was also aimed at enhancing the public faith on the profession of legal practitioners. The Society regularly holds training to lawyers on specialized subjects like taxation, WTO, human rights, labour laws, banking laws, commerce and constitutional development. This program intends to instill the sense of specialization among the lawyers. 7
o System Development Concerned by the apparent lack of public confidence and faith in the independence of judiciary, the Society has worked towards re-thinking the existing judicial-legal system. It is not only important to deliver justice but it is also equally important to guarantee that the people actually feel that the justice has been delivered. At present, the judiciary has often attracted criticisms for not delivering the justice on time. Justice delayed, as they say, is justice denied. The time factor is crucial in maintaining healthy judiciary. Apart from ways to bring down the time taken to deliver justice, the Society has been actively working to prepare guidelines to bring down the cost involved in seeking and getting justice. o Judicial Structure Currently, in partnership with the Supreme Court and The Asia Foundation, the NLS has been working in policy support to review and update the laws and by laws of judiciary. This program is aimed at both updating the current laws and preparing the judiciary for the future restructuring based on the new constitution to be promulgated by the Constituent Assembly. This program has also collected feedback from all the legal officials across the country regarding the prospects of restructuring judiciary in the future federal set up. Policy making process The Society has also involved drafting different laws and by laws including Company law, Contract Law, human rights law, Local Self Governance laws in close cooperation with parliament members. All draft bill were passed by the parliament and now implementing. Publication The Society has published over 300 books on various sectors including governance, decentralization, human rights, judiciary, social justice, women empowerment, constitution development, taxation and so on. The Society has published hundreds of bulletins, journals, books and reports on these sectors. The Society brings out Essays on Constitutional Law on a regular basis. The Essays provides a resource material for students as well as scholars of law in Nepal. These apart, the Society has also worked in the field of commerce, arbitration, company, land, legal aid, child welfare etc. 9. Major donor partners International IDEA UNDP Chemonics- USAID The Asia Foundation Norwegian Bar Association Canadian Cooperation Office DANIDA RAS Project Friedrich Naumann Foundation 8
NDI Swiss Agency for Development & Co-operation (SDC) The Royal Danish Embassy USAID The Australian Embassy IRIS European Human Rights Foundation Asian Development Bank International Bar Association German Embassy Redd Barna 10. Major implementing Partners Constituent Assembly District Development Committee Village Development Committee Judicial Council Secretariat Supreme Court Local NGO and civil society organizations 11. Organizational structure, decision making processes and expertise of the organization Executive Committee The Executive Committee has eleven members and they meet once every month. The general members elect a new Executive Committee comprising of eleven members every three years. The elected members, from among themselves, elect the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Joint Secretary. (Name of the Executive Committee members are given in Annex-1) Human Resource The management of human resource of NLS is governed by the Rules and Regulation of the organization and its financial activities are based on the overall statute provisions of NLS. Under the leadership of Executive Director, around 10 regular staffs function at the central office. Around 24 staffs work in different parts (Ilam, Morang, Dhanusha, Chitwan, Kaski, Banke, Jumla and Kailali districts) of Nepal. Annual General Assembly The Annual General Assembly will be held every year. Each year the general members at general meeting appoint a Charter Accountant to audit the account of NLS. Currently there are 350 members, 150 associate members and 10 honorary members based across the country. The NLS has a focal point unit in each of the 75 9
districts in the country. Each focal point has a local judge, lawyers, professors and civil society representative as members. Decision Making Process The decision-making process of the Society involves a series of steps. Normally, the general members and staffs create a concept/idea on some programs that they deem appropriate, which is then thoroughly discussed among the executive members. The executive members of the Society which includes policy experts on judiciary, government and public sector then discuss the concept, its appropriateness and justifiability. Once a concept is approved by the meeting of the executive members, then the process of identifying donors to implement it begins. This is followed by negotiation with the prospective donors and finalization of the program. After the agreement is reached with the donor, the Society then sticks to the guidelines (that have been agreed upon by the Society and the donors) to appoint staffs and experts as and when necessary. In order to ensure the regular supervision of the program, the Society normally forms a sub-committee, which is assigned to regularly (every month) report to the executive committee regarding the progress of the program. Every year, during the general meeting of the Society, the general members endorse the past and present activities and advises for the future activities. The Society counts leading luminaries from legal and other fields including judges, senior lawyers and government officials. Its members are experts in the fields of human rights, women empowerment, judiciary, rule of law, governance and decentralization. For more details please see website : www.nls.org.np 10