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.
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