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Judicial Activism and the Use of International Law as Gap-Filler in Domestic Law: The Case of Forced Disappearances Committed During the Armed Conflict in Nepal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2020

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

The degree of social, economic, and psychological damage caused to Nepalese society by the armed conflict between the government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) during 1996–2006 is yet to be fully measured. However, there are some indicators. The armed conflict is said to have claimed more than 13,000 Nepali lives and about 1,500 people were involuntarily disappeared and thousands remain displaced. There were several other serious violations of human rights, including widespread practice of torture and use of child soldiers. The Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA), signed in November 2006, formally ended the armed conflict. It paved the way for the promulgation of the Interim Constitution and election for the Constituent Assembly. However, the Constituent Assembly failed to meet the two-year deadline to promulgate a new constitution in May 2010, and extended its tenure for one more year. A political impasse has contributed to the failure of the Constituent Assembly to select the Premier in its Parliamentary capacity and it has further delayed the constitution drafting process. Ultimately, it has also delayed the formation and implementation of a comprehensive post-conflict justice scheme for Nepal.

At the time of writing, Nepal faces many complex challenges for the consolidation of the rule of law that was brought to its lowest ebb during the conflict, and for the establishment of a stable democratic regime. For this purpose, among other things, it is necessary to deal with the human rights violations committed during the armed conflict. Even after the end of the conflict, the failure of the Nepalese state system to prevent or end the culture of impunity perpetuated during the armed conflict has not been ameliorated, and nor have the provisions of the CPA relating to the post-conflict justice measures aimed at remedying past abuses been implemented. Among the reasons for the difficulty facing the domestic legal system in dealing with past human rights abuses may be the absence of a strong legal framework and the role for the principle of legality in dealing with past cases (prohibition of retroactive application of the law).

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