The confirmation of Kedar Prasad Giri as Chief Justice despite the divided opinion of the parliamentary hearing special committee (PHSP) will indeed hold adverse implications for the judiciary after all the controversy that preceded and

surrounded his appointment. For the next one and half years, he will be leading the Nepali judiciary. The main concern now is, therefore, whether he will prove the doubters wrong as regards his performance as the Chief Justice. In this connection, Giri, on his confirmation, told journalists on Sunday that he would discharge his duty with malice towards none. The new CJ also unveiled his programme for reforming the judiciary. These include setting up a specialised bench to decide on cases of special kinds, giving priority to cases of national concern, reviewing the strategic plan for the judiciary, speeding up disposal of old cases, making the judicial service transparent, implementing a citizens’ charter, and broadening the scope of legal assistance to help the backward sections.

Indeed, reform in these sectors is overdue. There are other pledges like making the legal service more people-oriented, the judicial service commission and the judicial council transparent. The new CJ

expressed commitment in these respects, as well as in setting up juvenile and commercial benches, to make justice dispensation effective and specialised. Giri also spoke of restructuring the jurisdiction of the Special Court to address public grievances. For

his appointment as the first CJ under the Interim Constitution, he thanked the Prime Minister, the Constitutional Council and others who were involved in the appointment process. His expression of thanks may have been innocent, but this is likely to send a wrong signal to the people in that a public interpretation of gratitude might imply a possible future executive influence over the judiciary.

Now, the new CJ has many promises to keep, and he has only one and a half years to go. Before him, other chief justices had, upon their appointment, made similar commitments. But most of the promises were never kept, at least during their tenures, and the general impression of justice having been done has never been created, to this day. Therefore, providing logistical and other technical support and creating better organisational infrastructure may facilitate justice dispensation, but these are not the key factors in determining the quality of justice. Quality must come from the hearts and minds of the judges and from their sense of right and wrong, and it has largely to do with probity, honesty, courage, and professional competence. Wide allegations persist of corruption in the judiciary, something even Giri’s predecessor Dilip Kumar Paudel had admitted. Giri’s test as CJ has much to do with how he deals with this evil. The country is in transition and there are daunting challenges on the way. Most people, even one and a half years after the April Uprising, are yet to feel that they can get justice in Nepal. Therefore, the performance of the new CJ will be chiefly judged by whether he will be able to alter this public perception.