Forty percent of district court judges will soon be recruited through open competition.

The Legislature-Parliament on Wednesday agreed, in principle, on a bill that envisions recruiting district judges through open competition in line with the Constitution of Nepal.

The bill formulated to define the jurisdiction of Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was tabled in Parliament for the thematic discussion.

Lawmakers except from the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party have voted in favour of sending the bill to the Legislation Committee for finalisation.

The Legislation Committee, after holding discussions with the lawmakers from different parties, will table the bill in the full House for endorsement.

Once the bill gets endorsed, 40 percent of district court judges will be appointed through open competition for which the JSC will conduct written and oral tests.

The bill envisions selecting district court judges through three processes. Twenty percent of judges will be selected from among senior-most under-secretaries in the judicial service.

Similarly, 40 percent will be appointed through internal competition among under-secretaries in the judicial service.

Those under-secretaries who have at least three years of experience can compete for district court judges.

Advocates, government section officers or individuals practising law with at least eight years of experience can field themselves for the post.

Currently, district judges are recruited through promotion of senior under-secretaries in the judicial service, law service and attorney office.

“The bill is in line with Article 149 of the Constitution of Nepal,” said Minister for Law Agni Kharel while presenting the bill for thematic discussion in the Legislature-Parliament.

 Though the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 had provisioned appointing one third of district court judges through open competition from among advocates, it could not be implemented due to lack of an Act to guide the selection process.