ILF- Nepal ILF-in-Nepal is a project of the International Legal Foundation (ILF) in partnership with the Nepal Judges’ Society (“NJS”) to build a country-wide public defender system in Nepal. |
Unlike Afghanistan and Rwanda, where the ILF has worked previously, Nepal has a very active legal community and a powerful bar association. Nevertheless, several assessment visits and a one-year pilot project in the Legal Aid Department of a local NGO, Advocacy Forum, the ILF found that Nepal’s criminal defense practice is timid at best. Lawyers essentially limit their legal services to trial representation. They rarely meet their clients before trial and rarely investigate cases, seeing investigation as a police responsibility. The effectiveness of representation can be negatively affected by the caste difference between lawyer and clients. Though the Nepal Bar Association has a structure in place to provide legal aid services and a number of local NGOs providing indigent representation, they are ineffective and inconsistent. During its one-year pilot project at Advocacy Forum, the ILF found that lawyer are willing to change their timid practices and more importantly, the judges proved to be open to well reasoned arguments. In August 2008, ILF-Nepal will open its own office in Kathmandu with six national lawyers. These lawyers will be trained by practicing criminal defense lawyers – known as International Fellows - from the United States, the U.K., and other common law countries to work day-in and day-out with the ILF-Nepal lawyers to institute new practices allowed under the current relevant codes to ensure better defense for the indigent and make sure that the authorities do not abuse their power. During the first year of the program, the ILF plans to open its first office in a district outside of Kathmandu ad within the next three ears, believes that it could be present in the entire country. ILF-Nepal will then be turned over the national agency or entity in charge of providing criminal defense services to the indigent. Definition of the Problem On February 1, 2005,
King Gyanendra seized control of power. Fundamental constitutional
rights including freedom of assembly and expression, right to privacy
and information, and prohibition against illegal detention were
suspended. Journalists, political leaders, and activists were
arrested and detained. The rule of law collapsed. After a popular
movement in April 2006, the King gave up the power he had usurped.
In November 2006, a peace agreement was reached between the
government and the Maoists. An interim constitution was put in
place, and elections for a constitutional assembly are scheduled for
June 2006. A constitutional assembly elected in April 2008, and a
president and vice-resident named. The country is entering a period
of change, making Nepal ripe for strengthening its rule of law
through the development of a strong, proactive criminal defense
culture and practice. The time is also right for constitutional
commentaries on rule of law and criminal law reforms. As they have
in Afghanistan, the ILF’s International Fellows working with
clients in the court system of Nepal will be intimately familiar with
the justice system and thus, able to provide meaningful
constitutional commentary. |
