Seized stolen properties collecting dust
Temporary Jail in Kathmandu District Court
Record Room
Settlement Room
Flag of Nepal in the center of Kathmandu District Court
Hello, I am an up-an-coming second year law student from the New England Law | Boston. I was offered an opportunity for a summer legal internship with the International Legal Foundation (ILF) in Nepal. ILF is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization and it provides free quality criminal defense services to the poor in post-conflict, transitional countries. Thanks to today’s advancement in technology, my interview was conducted via Skype.
I was able to accept this offer with the help of the Center for Law and Social Responsibility at the NEL|B. Special thanks to Prof. Dina F. Haynes and Ms. Martha Drane, Fellow (CLSR) for their endless efforts to ensure that I obtain this opportunity.
Sharpening my LRW Skills
My internship started on May 30, 2011. While most Americans were celebrating Memorial Day and grilling barbeques, I was buried in a large pile of books that I had to digest in order to understand the aspects of criminal law in Nepal. My first task was to research precedents by the Nepal Supreme Court to write memorandum regarding Nepal Court Management Rule 188. It had been ages since I read materials in Nepali (the national language) and, to add to my misery, a Supreme Court decision is a far cry from the short sentences I was used to reading in Nepali a decade ago. However, I managed to be mentally prepared in researching and reading case precedents. To my greatest disadvantage, none of the materials are found online. I had left behind the world of LexisNexis and Westlaw the minute I took off from JFK Airport in New York. Hence, I started my research by digging the books from the ILF Library and going through the indexes of each book in anticipation that the cases used Rule 188.
Rule 188 is a provision in the General Code of Nepal which gives the presiding judge the power to make a discretionary judgment, in terms of reducing punishment penalties based on the circumventing circumstances at the time of crime. It was a moment of awakening to read so many Supreme Court opinions and discover that none of the opinions ever cited a single precedent. The law here is studied by learning statutes and codes, unlike in the United States where the law is learned from cases. A practice such as this in Nepal has led to major discrepancies in the way codes and statutes are interpreted. The courts do not pay much attention to how a previous case with similar facts was decided. This reality demonstrates that, to a certain extent, law in the United States is consistent. Here, it is up to the judge to find the argument by either side plausible.
I am currently working on cases that might help the court recognize certain defenses. Defendants charged with crime, who suffer from psychiatric problems such as insanity or psychiatric trauma such as battered woman syndrome, are often indicted. The courts are very reluctant to accept excuse/justification defense. My work hopefully will help the courts change their direction for the better.
I will further update everyone on these developments in the coming weeks.
Visit to the District Court
For those of us who complain about the courts system in the United States, please visit Nepal and observe a day in court; then, our opinion might alter drastically.
I observed a jail bail argument for defendants who were charged with possession and selling of illegal narcotic substances. The charged defendants were virtually kids who were picked up by the police from the streets and were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were on the lucky side of the system because their jail bail court day was set two months after they were arrested. There are many instances where arrested individuals have to wait months or even years just to find themselves in the court for the first time after their arrest.
Innocents are trapped for months if not years in jail due to corrupt law enforcement agents (police), a broken court system (law, lawyers, and judges) and political turmoil (the continuous struggle to write a new constitution for two years and counting).
My one day in court confirmed my idea to knowledge that, in Nepal, only the helpless poor get arrested for petty crime while the police and courts salute the major criminals who are always the rich and powerful.
Rina Gurung
Kathmandu, Nepal
