Amid failures by successive governments to enact laws necessary for full-fledged implementation of the Constitution of Nepal, the interim government has announced that it is working on 121 amendments and new bills to be tabled in the federal parliament.

Presenting his plan in the joint meeting of the Public Policy and Delegated Legislation Committee and the Legislation Management Committee under the National Assembly, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary affairs Anil Kumar Sinha said the government has already listed the bills and is working on them.

“The respective ministries have identified and advanced the required bills through discussions, based on the government’s policies and programmes, the budget, periodic plans, sectoral policies, and obligations created by international treaties and agreements,” said Sinha. The focus has been on the laws necessary for the full implementation of the constitution promulgated a decade ago.

Studies by the Legislation Management Committee of the upper house suggest that more than three dozen laws are required for effective implementation. Different ministers still need to prepare 39 bills necessary for effective implementation of the statute, according to the studies.

They have pointed out that successive governments have paid little attention towards ensuring necessary legal arrangements for the constitution’s full implementation. Seven governments led by the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and CPN (Maoist Centre), including the current one formed after the Gen Z protests, have been in power since the promulgation of the constitution in 2015.

The highest number of bills—13—are related to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, followed by the Office of the Prime Minister with eight, and the Ministry of Home Affairs with four.

The committee had found that only 111 laws among the 151 required to implement the 2015 constitution had been enacted by July 2023.

The constitution had set two deadlines to prepare laws for its implementation. It mandated the passage of laws related to fundamental rights within three years of the charter’s promulgation. The federal parliament endorsed the bills related to 31 fundamental rights a day before the constitutional deadline of September 19, 2018.

As per the statute, Acts that contradict the constitution had to be revised within a year of the first meeting of the federal parliament on March 5, 2018. Though several laws were enacted, dozens await parliamentary approval, while bills of several others have yet to be drafted.

One major constitutional mandate involves devolving authority to manage school education from the federal government to local governments. Even though the bill was registered in parliament, the House of Representatives was dissolved before it was enacted. The same is the case with the federal civil service bill. Both bills need to be introduced again.

Other crucial laws, including those related to health, citizenship and the authority of the President and Vice President, have also not been enacted yet.

Reports by the parliamentary committee say that some of the laws in force date back as far back as 1953. Similarly, dozens of Acts are from the Panchayat era (1961-1990). For instance, the Education Act from 1972 and Infectious Disease Act from 1962 still remain in force.

In its report, the parliamentary committee had instructed the government to revise the Panchayat-era laws to align with the present-day needs. However, little progress has been made in this regard.

It is the government that prepares bills and registers them in parliament. They become Acts only after they get through both the houses of the federal parliament and receive the presidential seal.

Delays on the part of parliament and parliamentary committees in finalising bills after deliberations are also responsible for the delay in having the necessary laws.