Justices of the Supreme Court of Nepal Visit NLSIU campus

Justices of the Supreme Court of Nepal, Justice Hari Phuyal and Justice Nahakul Subedi, visited the NLSIU campus for a talk on ‘Constitutional developments in Nepal’ on June 2, 2022. Justice Phuyal is an NLS alum from the 1997 batch of the LLM programme.

The talk covered constitution making, main features of the Nepalese constitution, and core constitutional contestations that have come up before the courts. Both judges highlighted unique dimensions of the Nepali Constitution of 2015, noting that the previous Constitution was more unitary, while the 2015 Constitution was more federal. They pointed to the inclusive nature of the Constitution, observing  that there was a  co-equal importance of socio-economic rights with civil and political rights, the recognition of the rights of groups such as children, women, disabled, labour  and sexual minorities. They also spoke about the public process followed in the appointment of judges.

The event was a fantastic opportunity for our academic community to learn about the Nepalese Constitution, and about constitutional thought in our neighbourhood. The Supreme Court of Nepal has given a range of landmark judgments that are already being cited the world over, including by Indian courts.

The session was chaired by Dr. Aparna Chandra, Associate Professor of Law, NLSIU. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion where participants expressed the need for more such exchanges between Nepal and India to deepen our understanding of comparative constitutional law.