Nepal Bar Association has said the performance of the judiciary is not satisfactory under the leadership Chief Justrict Cholendra Shumsher Rana and called for the formation of a special mechanism to control corruption and malpractices in courts and justice delivery process.

The association, which is an elected body of registered lawyers, has submitted a 17-point charter of demands to Rana, urging for their implementation in order to ensure that the public faith in the judiciary does not erode further.

“The justice delivery from the judiciary has not been satisfactory under the present leadership,” Chandeshwor Shrestha, chairperson of the association, said at a programme organised to inform the press about their demands.

The association has demanded, among others, a fair and impartial probe into the property of judges from the three layers of court and the office-bearer of the association. The association has concluded that the people are losing their faith in the judiciary due to the faults in publishing the cause lists of cases. The chief justice and chief judges from other courts fix the cause lists for hearing.

“Fully automated system should be adopted in determining the cause list,” reads one of the demands of the association. “This should be done within a month.”

Lilamani Paudel, general secretary of the association, said the blame of bench fixing would end once the automated system comes into effect.

“This would be an important step towards ending the alleged malpractices in the courts,” he said.

The association also has also expressed discontent over courts issuing different judgments and rulings in similar cases. The lawyers’ body has called for a proper study and probe to determine the reason behind varied judgments in similar cases and to bring about uniformity in judgments and rulings.

Banning political or other influence in the judge appointment process and is another demand raised by the association.

The chief justice must develop a certain criteria for promotion of a judge as chief judge or as justice, the association has said.

The association has also concluded that there is an unnecessary influence of various national and international non-government actors in the judiciary. Controlling the entry and influence of such government organisations too is included on the list of the association’s demands. The judiciary is implementing different projects supported by the donor agencies and the United Nations.

Paudel said the association has always been raising its voice against the irregularities and malpractices in the judiciary.

“We will continue to build pressure on the leadership of the judiciary unless it corrects its working style,” he said.