Criminal Justice

CHIEF Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya, while inaugurating a three-day interaction programme on criminal justice system and gender equality the other day in Kathmandu, underlined the need for bringing about massive reforms in the field of criminal justice system. The programme, was jointly organised by the Judicial Service Commission, His Majesty’s Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in order to make criminal justice system more effective from the perspective of gender equality. As rightly said by the Chief Justice, the need of the day is to strike a balance between the traditionally accepted norms of criminal justice system and the present complexities arising in the context of modern trends of liberalisation and globalisation. With the development of modern technology, the nature of crime has changed. In this context, traditional thinking and traditional methods of criminal justice system may not be able to cope with the present changed context. Attention, thus, needs to be given to bringing about changes and reforms in the criminal justice system to suit the present context. In Nepal too, methods of crimes have changed but the criminal justice system has not followed suit. It is now high time that reforms be brought about in the existing procedural and other laws concerning criminal justice to make investigation and defence procedures in the criminal justice system more effective.

Although the Constitution has guaranteed equality to all citizens before the law irrespective of caste, creed, sex and colour, there is still the need for translating this constitutional provision into practice especially from the gender perspective. The Judiciary is the custodian of the people’s fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. In order to make the justice system more effective and reliable, the Judiciary and courts need to be equipped with modern physical facilities. At the same time, periodic programmes need to be organised to further enhance the efficiency of judges. This alone can help in raising the quality of judiciary and make the justice system more effective. It is said that justice delayed is justice denied. Unless the judiciary and the justice system cannot be effective and efficient, dispensation of justice may not have the desired effect. It is, thus, the need of the hour to make the judicial administration and justice system more capable, reliable and effective. In this context, more attention needs to be given for the reforms and improvement in the criminal justice system.

Saving Tourism

TRAVEL entrepreneurs, businessmen and people from various sectors have shown their serious concern over the slump in the country’s tourism industry. The tourism industry is considered to be the backbone of Nepalese economy. It is the largest foreign currency earner and also provides employment opportunities to thousands of people. In view of its pivotal role in Nepalese economy, His Majesty’s Government has always accorded high priority to tourism development. But this sector has seen a negative trend in the recent months. The arrival of tourists has declined sharply. As a result, Nepal’s tourism industry has suffered a heavy blow. There might be several factors behind the slump in Nepal’s tourism industry. However, the main reasons are the political unrest, instability and frequent strikes. Nepal used to be known in the world as a peaceful country and a Himalayan Shangri-La. This image no longer exists now because of negative reports of international media about Nepal. Many foreigners, who had planned to visit Nepal, have cancelled their bookings. In fact, Nepal’s tourism industry is one of the success stories in South Asia. The recent recession in the tourism industry has caused worries not only to travel entrepreneurs but also to the government, planners and all the other people. Against this background, a delegation of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) met with Minister for Finance Dr Ram Sharan Mahat in his office the other day and apprised him of the present scenario of Nepal’s tourism industry. Hoteliers presented an 11-point memorandum to the Finance Minister calling upon him to take some immediate measures to save tourism business. They have demanded a waiver of visa fees to tourists for a certain period and adoption of open air policy for the international airlines and improvement of the efficiency of Nepal’s national flag carrier—Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation. In view of this, efforts must be made to identify the real causes and take necessary action for the same. But the government alone cannot do it. All the political parties and the business community need to hammer out a solution and revive the tourism industry. For the larger interest of the nation and its economy, all need to rise above politics and partisan interest. If the country’s economy collapses, the ultimate victims would be the people. All need to understand the fact that economy should not suffer because of politics. The objective of all political parties is to raise the living standard of the people and to uplift their economic status. Thus, they need to realise it and act accordingly so that the tourism industry does not suffer due to their unscrupulous activities.