Kathmandu, March 6

The 10th Chief Justices’ Conference held in Kathmandu adopted a seven-point Kathmandu declaration expressing commitment to enhance cooperation in the judicial sector in the SAARC region.

The declaration expressed commitment to take initiatives to disseminate judgments on human rights, public interest litigation, environment and commercial law through the website of the SAARCLAW, along with an alert system while uploading new judgments.

The declaration also committed to publishing periodic SAARC Law Reports containing landmark judgments and decisions of the apex courts of the SAARC countries; foster regional cooperation for the establishment of a SAARC Law Arbitration Centre in Nepal; make further use of national judicial academies for mutual exchange of knowledge, skills and experiences of judges, judicial officials and law practitioners in the region through training and exchange of visits.

The conference also expressed commitment to share the best practices in court management among the judiciaries in the region, further cooperate with the relevant stakeholders including civil society in order to enhance access to justice for all, and urge the respective governments to provide to the judiciary adequate resources for strengthening its institutional capacity.

At the programme, Indian Chief Justice TS Thakur said Nepal’s new constitution was a promising document which would be able to meet the aspirations of the people.

Talking to mediapersons after the conclusion of the programme, Nepal’s Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha said the conference was able to forge a common view among the judiciaries of the SAARC region.

He said the conference was a milestone in the promotion of mutual cooperation in the region. He added that the conference would greatly contribute to promoting the rule of law in the region.

Shrestha handed over the English versions of the constitution of Nepal to the participants expecting their feedback on the document.

The conference deliberated issues of common concern and judicial cooperation, including the role of the judiciary in promoting constitutional culture in South Asia; internal and external challenges to judicial independence; promotion of access to justice; review of development initiatives from human rights perspectives; and possible role of judiciary in connecting SAARC through justice in good governance and development.

Chief Justice of Nepal Kalyan Shrestha, Chief Justice of Bangladesh Surendra Kumar Sinha, Chief Justice of Bhutan Tshering Wangchuk, Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, Justice Ezaj Afzal Khan representing Chief Justice of Pakistan, and Chief Justice of Sri Lanka K Sripavan signed the declaration.

Nepal’s statute best,says Indian Chief Justice

KATHMANDU: Chief Justice of India TS Thakur on Sunday said the new constitution of Nepal was one of the best documents.

Thakur made this observation at the concluding ceremony of the 13th SAARC Law and 10th SAARC Chief Justices’ Conference here on Sunday. He said, “The new constitution incorporating peace, freedom, social justice and independent judiciary and people’s aspiration is very inspiring.”

The Indian Chief Justice further said it was a great achievement of Nepal to promulgate the new constitution as per the people’s wish.

The issues except democracy, secularism, and inclusion could be amended in his country’s law, he added.

Similarly, Chief Justice of Bangladesh, Surendra Kumar Sinha, welcomed the new constitution of Nepal, saying it is the best document.