Law and Legal System of Nepal
Hierarchy and sources
Article 1 supremacy means the Constitution prevails over statutes, statutes over regulations and by-laws. Sources are legislation, Supreme Court precedent (binding on all courts below), custom, and ratified treaties applied where no inconsistent statute exists.
Courts
- Supreme Court: Chief Justice plus up to 20 justices; final appellate and judicial-review court.
- High Courts: one per province; appellate and writ jurisdiction.
- District Courts: 77 trial courts for most offences.
- Local judicial committees: ward-level, headed by the deputy mayor or vice-chair, limited to small pecuniary claims and mediation - not criminal cases.
Codes
The Muluki Ain 2020 was replaced with effect from 1 Bhadra 2075 by the Muluki Civil Code 2074, Civil Procedure Code 2074, Criminal Code 2074 and Criminal Procedure Code 2074, read with the Evidence Act 2031 and topic-specific statutes (company, contract, banking, trafficking).
Worked example
‘A statutory section says one thing; article 18 of the Constitution says another.’ The court applies the Constitution and the inconsistent portion is void to that extent. Reasoning: supremacy is a hierarchy rule, not an interpretive preference, and it is enforced through judicial review and writs.
Traps
- Saying ‘the Supreme Court makes law’; it interprets, and its ratio binds lower courts.
- Mixing substantive codes (rights, offences, penalties) with procedural codes (filing, evidence, appeal).
- Assuming local judicial committees can try criminal cases; they cannot.
- Forgetting that the Civil and Criminal Codes 2074, not the old Muluki Ain, govern facts after 1 Bhadra 2075.