Human rights and administration of justice: obligations unfulfilled

Jun 27, 2003

This report contains the findings of a Mission to Nepal sent by the ICJ’s Center for the Independence of the Judges and Lawyers.

The mission’s mandate was to examine the functioning of the administration of justice in Nepal, including the existing legal framework and actual practice, and to evaluate the effectiveness of judicial and administrative implementation of international standards.

The mission also sought to evaluate the impact of recent Nepalese law and practice on the fulfilment of Nepal’s international human rights obligations. Some of the particular areas of question and concern were whether there existed effective means to challenge unlawful or arbitrary detention, such as habeas corpus; the implications of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Act (TADA) and other legislation used in context of countering the ongoing Maoist insurgency; the practice of torture of detainees by the authorities and the adequacy and effectiveness of means to prevent and remedy incidents of torture and other illtreatment; the extent to which judges were willing or able to carry out their professional functions independently and impartially; allegations of harassment of lawyers in the country, including cases of arbitrary detention and violent assault. The Mission also sought to gather information with a view to determining, on a preliminary basis, Nepal’s capacity building needs in the area of administration of justice.

Nepal-human rights and administration of justice-fact finding mission-2003-eng (full text in English, PDF)