The Kingdom of Nepal, also referred to as the Gorkha Kingdom, is the world’s only Hindu monarchy and a landlocked country situated between India and China’sTibetan Autonomous region. As an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular, inclusive and a fully democratic State (art. 4(1), the Interim Constitution), the country is a Federal Democratic Republic since May 2008. The country, with a unique landscape, and a fabulous biodiversity, is multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual, where more than 100 ethnic people live in Nepal and around 70 languages are spoken. Geographically the country is divided into three main geographical regions The Himalayas, the Hills and the Terai (plain land). The country held elections to the Constituent Assembly in April 2008. The 601-member Constituent Assembly is the most representative legislative body Nepal has ever had, with wider representation from various ethnic groups, geographic regions, social classes, dalits, Madhesi and women. Legal and Political History Historically, the Nepalese legal system is based on Hindu philosophy and its growth and development is largely influenced by Hindu religious texts. After the successful revolution of 2007 B.S., new political system based on the democratic norms and values was recognized in Nepal. Since then modernization process of the Nepalese legal system has been taking place at various levels and fields. Nepalese legal system has started to introduce new concept through different sub systems and the influence of Hindu legal system was minimized and it became hybrid legal system for last fifty years. After the change of 2007 B.S. the concept of rule of law, fundamental right of people, independent judiciary etc. were introduced in the legal system. These concepts were the voluntary reception of foreign laws by the Nepalese natives. In 2017 B.S., the Government Cases Act introduced some new concept in the process of criminal justice. Likewise Muluki Ain 2020 B.S. brought changes in the penal system and introduced the concept of equality before he law in practice which was adopted by previous Constitution but it was not fully enforced in practice. In 2047 B. S., the new Constitution was promulgated as per the aspiration of people’s popular movement. This Constitution has adopted all the concepts, which were necessary for a democratic country. Such as Rule of law, Fundamental Human Right, Independent judiciary etc have become the basic principles of Nepalese Legal system. The legal and political history of Nepalese legal system can broadly be divided into the following parts: Early History Post Unification Era Dissemination of the Muluki Ain Later Development After the Period of 1951 After the Period of 1990 Modern trend (Nepalese Legal System in a Transition Phase) I. Early History Nepalese Legal system has over two thousand years of history. The discussion about the legal history of Nepal starts from Kirants. Dynasty of Kirants (early- B.S. 307) is commonly known as the first ruling dynasty in Nepal. They formed crude form of government and judicature there under. The lichhavis conquered the Kirants Kingdom of Kathmandu in B.S. 307 and introduced state system based on religious myth and realities. They paid sufficient attention towards the development of well-managed justice system in the country. However, the rulers could not be free from religious prejudice. As a result, the King becomes source of all state powers. In B.S. 1197, Mallas started to rule over the country. They also accepted the religious influence. However, some of the Malla Kings did a lot for the reformation of judicial system. They composed each one central court for civil; appeals known as Kotlingaand Itachapali. Besides, Mallas issued legislative incorporations, known as thitis (a kind of obligatory legal rule in society). Basically, administration of justice was governed under the thitis. Rana Shah, the King of Gorkha, was probably the most illustrations judicial reformist in the history of Nepal. He issued thitis and followed the rule of“Justice according to thitis (law)”. He was interested to deliver the judgments also. Before the unification of Nepal in the 18th century by King Prithivi Narayan Shah, the country was divided into numerous independence principalities each having its separate administrative set up with a ruling prince yet the common feature among these principalities was the recognition of Dharmasastra was silent or vague. Royal edicts provided guiding norms when Dharmasastra and Rriti Sthiti appeared to be in conflict with each other. From the earliest times to Malla period, the principality or principalities in the Kathmandu Valley made significant contribution towards the formulation of definite, practical and beneficial rules for human conduct and also towards the establishment of law-administering agencies starting from the village level upwards. King Jayasthi Malla (1380- 1395) deserves special mention for his extension social and judicial reforms. His code known as MANAB NAYASASTRA constitutes an important landmark in the history of Nepalese law and justice. A few centuries later, the principality of Gorkha about forty-nine miles west of Kathmandu, became a rising power. King Ram Shah, who ruled there from 1606 to 1633, was a great giver as well as a great dispenser of justice. The tradition of justice, whose strong foundation King Ram Shah led down by impartially administering justice to his subjects were maintained as far as practicable by his royal descendants even in the changed circumstances of gradual expansion of state territories and of growing complexities in social structure. King Ram Shah gave the justice to his people on the basis of religious treatise, tradition, equality.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 15:30:46 +0000
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