Asks law commission to file a report in this regard
KATHMANDU, MAY 23
Minister of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Govinda Bandi has asked the Nepal Law Commission to submit a report about what the government could do about extending the statute of limitation in rape cases.
Under existing laws, a rape case has to be filed within one year of the crime. Since an aspiring model reported rape after eight years, there is a fear that she might not get justice due to short statute of limitation.
Bandi said at a press conference here today that the ministry wanted relevant authorities to submit suggestions after perusing court orders and international practices. Based on their suggestions, the ministry will take a call on the statute of limitation, the minister added.
Rights activists say that there should be no statute of limitation in rape cases, as victims often report the incident much later.
The minister said his ministry would meet conflict victims and stakeholders in all seven provinces soon and draft a bill related to transitional justice keeping in mind the Supreme Court's order and international laws. He said victims' interests would not be compromised in the new bill.
In response to a journalist's query, Bandi, who is also a member of the Judicial Council, said the JC was preparing a directive to bring reforms in the appointment of judges and unless the directives were prepared, no new judges would be appointed.
He said his ministry wanted the Supreme Court to go for automation-based cause list from mid-July, but due to technical reasons, the apex court might not be able to launch automation-based cause list from mid-July.
In response to a journalist's query, the minister said the government wanted to pass crucial bills, including the citizenship bill and the federal civil service bill, during the budget session. He said the government could ensure passage of 53 bills that were pending in the Parliament due to the CPN-UML's obstruction of parliamentary proceedings for eight months. It decided not to obstruct House proceedings when the budget session began a few days ago.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 24, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
