History
The Interim Constitution provided for aFeatures
The constitution is largely written in gender-neutral terms. Some of the important aspects of the constitution include the following: * The Constitution restructured Nepal into a federal republic. The Constitution divided the nation into seven provinces and completed the transition of Nepal from constitutional monarchy to republicanism and from a unitary system to federalism. *The Federal system is established with three tiers, Federal Government, Provincial Level, and Local Level. The guiding principles of the 'Holding Together' type of Nepalese federal system are based on Co-existence, Co-operation, and Coordination (3Cs). * Nepal is defined in article 4 as an "independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular, inclusive, democratic, socialism-oriented, federal democratic republican state." * A bicameral parliamentary system was created with two Federal houses and unicameral parliamentary systems in each province. * A mixed electoral system was adopted for the elections of the lower Federal house with both first-past-the-post and proportional electoral aspects used to elect members. * The rights of gender and sexual minorities are protected by the new constitution with provisions of special laws to protect, empower and develop minority groups as well as allowing them to get citizenship in their chosen gender. * The rights of women were explicitly recognized, the constitution stating that “women shall have an equal ancestral right without any gender-based discrimination”. * Acts leading to conversions from one religion to another were banned, and acts that undermine or jeopardize the religion of another prohibited. At the same time, the constitution declares the nation to be secular and neutral toward all religions. * Nepal also has continued not to use the death penalty. Nepal had abolished capital punishment in 1990 after the promulgation of that year's Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal.Preamble
The preamble of the constitution of Nepal states the follows: ''" We, the Sovereign People of Nepal,'' ''internalizing the people's sovereign right and right to autonomy and self-rule, while maintaining freedom, sovereignty, territorial integrity, national unity, independence and dignity of Nepal,'' ''recalling the glorious history of historic people's movements, armed conflict, dedication and sacrifice undertaken by the Nepalese people at times for the interest of the nation, democracy and progressive changes, and respecting for the martyrs and disappeared and victim citizens,'' ''ending all forms of discrimination and oppression created by the feudalistic, autocratic, centralized, unitary system of governance, protecting and promoting social and cultural solidarity, tolerance and harmony, andunity in diversity Unity in diversity is used as an expression of harmony and unity between dissimilar individuals or groups. It is a concept of "unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation" that shifts focus from unity based on a mere tolerance ...by recognizing the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-cultural and diverse regional characteristics, resolving to build an egalitarian society founded on the proportional inclusive and participatory principles in order to ensure economic equality, prosperity and social justice, by eliminating discrimination based on class, caste, region, language, religion and gender and all forms of caste-based untouchability, and'' ''being committed to socialism based on democratic norms and values including the people's competitive multi-party democratic system of governance, civil liberties, fundamental rights, human rights, adult franchise, periodic elections, full freedom of the press, and independent, impartial and competent judiciary and concept of the rule of law, and build a prosperous nation,'' ''do hereby pass and promulgate this Constitution, through the Constituent Assembly, in order to fulfill the aspirations for sustainable peace, good governance, development and prosperity through the federal, democratic, republican, system of governance."'' In Nepali: " ''हामी सार्वभौमसत्तासम्पन्न नेपाली जनिता;'' ''नेपालको स्वतन्त्रता, सार्वभौमिकता, भौगोलिक अखण्डता, राष्ट्रिय एकता, स्वाधीनता र स्वाभिमानलाई अक्षुण्ण राखी जनताको सार्वभौम अधिकार, स्वायत्तता र स्वशासनको अधिकारलाई आत्मसात् गर्दै;'' ''राष्ट्रहित, लोकतन्त्र र अग्रगामी परिवर्तनका लागि नेपाली जनताले पटक– पटक गर्दै आएका ऐतिहासिक जन आन्दोलन, सशस्त्र संघर्ष, त्याग र बलिदानको गौरवपूर्ण इतिहासलाई स्मरण एवं शहीदहरू तथा बेपत्ता र पीडित नागरिकहरूलाई सम्मान गर्दै;'' ''सामन्ती, निरंकुश, केन्द्रीकृत र एकात्मक राज्यव्यवस्थाले सृजना गरेका सबै प्रकारका विभेद र उत्पीडनको अन्त्य गर्दै;'' ''बहुजातीय, बहुभाषिक, बहुधार्मिक, बहुसांस्कृतिक तथा भौगोलिक विविधतायुक्त विशेषतालाई आत्मसात् गरी विविधताबीचको एकता, सामाजिक सांस्कृतिक ऐक्यबद्धता, सहिष्णुता र सद्भावलाई संरक्षण एवं प्रवर्धन गर्दै; वर्गीय, जातीय, क्षेत्रीय, भाषिक, धार्मिक, लैंगिक विभेद र सबै प्रकारका जातीय छुवाछूतको अन्त्य गरी आर्थिक समानता, समृद्धि र सामाजिक न्याय सुनिश्चित गर्न समानुपातिक समावेशी र सहभागितामूलक सिद्धान्तका आधारमा समतामूलक समाजको निर्माण गर्ने संकल्प गर्दै;'' ''जनताको प्रतिस्पर्धात्मक बहुदलीय लोकतान्त्रिक शासन प्रणाली, नागरिक स्वतन्त्रता, मौलिक अधिकार, मानव अधिकार, बालिग मताधिकार, आवधिक निर्वाचन, पूर्ण प्रेस स्वतन्त्रता तथा स्वतन्त्र, निष्पक्ष र सक्षम न्यायपालिका र कानूनी राज्यको अवधारणा लगायतका लोकतान्त्रिक मूल्य र मान्यतामा आधारित समाजवादप्रति प्रतिबद्ध रही समृद्ध राष्ट्र निर्माण गर्न;'' ''संघीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्रात्मक शासन व्यवस्थाको माध्यमद्वारा दिगो शान्ति, सुशासन, विकास र समृद्धिको आकांक्षा पूरा गर्न संविधान सभाबाट पारित गरी यो संविधान जारी गर्दछौं'' । "
Previous Constitutions of Nepal
In the 68-year history of constitutional development up to this Constitution, Nepal experienced 7 different constitutions in different time periods, with previous constitutions being enacted in 1948, 1951, 1959, 1962, 1990, and 2007.The Nepal Government Act 1948
In 2004 ''Nepal Interim Government Act 1951
The Interim Government of Nepal Act 1951 was promulgated after the Revolution of 1951 at the end of the Rana period. This text strengthened the authority of the king, and introduced relevant reforms such as the creation of theConstitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1959
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1959 followed the previously mentioned interim text. Despite the establishment of a bicameral parliament, the king continued to hold important powers such as the prerogative to appoint half of the members of the Senate and the suspension of parliament under certain circumstances.This constitution was drafted under the chairmanship of Bhagawati Pd Singh. The constitution drafting commission included members like Surya Pd Upadhyaya, Ranabir Subba, Hari prashad Joshi. Sir Ivor Jennings was an advisor in this committee. This constitution was promulgated on 12 February 1959. It consisted of 10 parts, 77 articles and 3 schedules.Constitution of Nepal 1962
The democratic experiment was short-lived, as in 1962 a new constitution came in to eliminate political parties, and to introduce theConstitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990
In 1990, the first ''Jana Andolan'', Popular Revolt, brought multi-party democracy back to Nepal. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990 lifted the ban on political parties, described a democratic representative system where the authority of the king was curtailed, and enshrined fundamental rights. Although the 1990 constitution substantially increased the democratic character of the state in comparison with the ''Panchayat'' Regime, critiques have argued that this text did not adequately represent all sectors of society even though Nepal was a multi-cultural country where diverse social groups coexist. This constitution was promulgated on 9 November 1990 by King Birendra. It consisted of 23 parts, 133 articles and 3 schedules. This constitution was repealed by the current constitution of Nepal.Nepal Interim Constitution, 2007
Again following the 2007 democracy movement in Nepal, Interim Constitution was promulgated in 2007. This constitution was promulgated on 15 January 2007. It consisted of 25 parts, 167 articles and 4 schedules. It has articles on citizenship, fundamental rights, responsibilities, directive principles and policies of the State, the Executive, Legislature-Parliament, the Constituent Assembly, the legislative procedure, the financial procedure, the Judiciary, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the Auditor General, the Public Service Commission, the Election Commission, the National Human Rights Commission, the Attorney General, structure of State and local self-governance, political parties, emergency powers, provisions regarding the army, amendment of the Constitution and transitional provisions.Parts
The Constitution has 35 parts: # Preliminary # Citizenship # Fundamental Rights and Duties # Directive Principles, Policies, and Responsibilities of the State # Structure of State and Distribution of State Power # President and Vice-president # Federal Executive # Federal Legislature # Federal Legislative Procedure # Federal Financial Procedures # Judiciary # Attorney General # Provincial Executive # Provincial Legislature # Provincial Legislative Procedure # Financial Procedures of Province # Local Executive # Local Legislature # Local Financial Procedure # Interrelationship between the Federation, Provinces and Local Levels # Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority # Auditor General # Public Service Commission # Election Commission # National Human Rights Commission # National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission # Other Commissions # Provision regarding National Security # Provision relating to Political Parties # Emergency Power # Amendment of the Constitution # Miscellaneous # Transitional Provisions # Definitions and Interpretations # Short title, Commencement and RepealCitizenship Provisions
The conditions to be fulfilled to be a Nepalese Citizen are outlined below (''Copied from Section 11, Part 2, Constitution of Nepal, 2015)'' (final) (1) The persons who have acquired citizenship of Nepal at the commencement of this Constitution and the persons who are eligible to acquire citizenship of Nepal under this Part shall be deemed to be the citizens of Nepal. (2) The following persons who have their permanent domicile in Nepal shall be deemed to be citizens of Nepal by descent:- # A person who has acquired the citizenship of Nepal by descent before the commencement of this constitution. # Any person whose father or mother was a citizen of Nepal at the birth of such a person. (3) A child of a citizen who has acquired citizenship of Nepal by birth before the commencement of this Constitution shall, if his/her father and mother both are the citizens of Nepal, shall be entitled to Nepali citizenship by descent upon his/her attaining the age of maturity. (4) Every child found in Nepal whereabouts of whose paternity and maternity is not known shall, until the mother or father is traced, be deemed a citizen of Nepal by descent. (5) A person born to a Nepali citizen mother and having his/her domicile in Nepal but whose father is not traced, shall be conferred the Nepali citizenship by descent. Provided that in case his/her father is found to be a foreigner, the citizenship of such a person shall be converted to naturalized citizenship according to the Federal law. (6) If a foreign woman married to a Nepali citizen so wishes, she may acquire naturalized citizenship of Nepal as provided for in a Federal law. (7) Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in this Article, in case of a person born to Nepali woman citizen married to a foreign citizen, he/she may acquire naturalized citizenship of Nepal as provided for by a Federal law if he/she is having the permanent domicile in Nepal and he/she has not acquired citizenship of the foreign country. Provided that if his/her father and mother both are the citizen of Nepal at the time of acquisition of the citizenship, he/she, if born in Nepal, may acquire citizenship by descent. (8) Except provided for in this Article, Government of Nepal may confer naturalized citizenship of Nepal according to Federal law. (9) Government of Nepal may confer honorary citizenship according to Federal law. (10) In case any area is annexed into Nepal by merger, the persons having domicile in such area shall be citizens of Nepal subject to a Federal law.Fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution (Part 3)
There are 31 fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution of Nepal in part -3 (Fundamental Rights and Duties). They are # Right to Live with Dignity (Article 16) # Right to Freedom (Article 17) # Right to Equality (Article 18) # Right to Communication (Article 19) # Rights relating to Justice (Article 20) # Right of Victim of Crime (Article 21) # Right against Torture (Article 22) # Right against Preventive Detention (Article 23) # Right against Untouchability and Discrimination (Article 24) # Right relating to Property (Article 25) # Right to Freedom of Religion (Article 26) # Right to Information (Article 27) # Right to Privacy (Article 28) # Right against Exploitation (Article 29) # Right to Clean Environment (Article 30) # Right relating to Education (Article 31) # Right to Language and Culture (Article 32) # Right to Employment (Article 33) # Right to Labour (Article 34) # Right relating to Health (Article 35) # Right relating to Food (Article 36) # Right to Housing (Article 37) # Rights of Women (Article 38) # Rights of the Child (Article 39) # Rights of Dalit (Article 40) # Rights of Senior Citizens (Article 41) # Right to Social Justice (Article 42) # Right to Social Security (Article 43) # Right of the Consumer (Article 44) # Right against Exile (Article 45) # Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 46)Constitutional Organs
The constitutional organs of Nepal form Part 21-27: # Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) (Part 21) # Office of the Auditor General (Part 22) # Public Service Commission (Part 23) #Schedules
The Constitution has 9 schedules: # Nepali National Flag # National Anthem of Nepal # Coat of Arms of Nepal # Provinces and Districts within provinces # List of Federal Powers/Jurisdiction # List of Provincial Powers/Jurisdiction # List of Concurrent (federal and provincial) powers/jurisdiction # List of Powers/Jurisdiction for Local Level # List of Concurrent Powers/Jurisdiction for Federation, Province and Local LevelSee also
*References
Further reading
* BBC News.External links