National Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training:
The Nepal Experience

Shreekrishna Mulmi*Prior to the 1990s, there was no autonomous training institutethat would enhance the knowledge and skills of Judges and officialsof the Nepali Judiciary, and would undertake academic research toaddress their needs.1 But with the separation of Nepali Judiciary from theexecutive branch of government in 1990, the establishment of an autonomous judicial training institute was deemed necessary. Consequently, an
executive ordinance in 2004 established the National Judicial Academy. The
Nepali Parliament replaced the ordinance in 2006 with the National Judicial
Academy Act (nja Act). By then, nja has become an umbrella institution for
the training of judges, judicial officers, government legal officers, government attorneys and private law practitioners in Nepal.
The National Judicial Academy
The National Judicial Academy (nja) is an autonomous body that operates
under the broad policy guidelines of sixteen-member Governing Council
headed by the Chief Justice of Nepal.2
The nja Act provides for an Executive Body representing clientele
organizations, namely, the Supreme Court, Office of Attorney General,
Ministry of Law and Justice, Nepal Bar Association, and the Judicial Council
Secretariat.3 An Executive Director, who is appointed by the Chief Justiceof Nepal under the recommendation of the Judicial Council, heads the
Executive Board of the nja. S/he is also responsible for day-to-day activities.
Nja envisions to promote an equitable, just and efficient justice system for Nepal through training, professional development, research andpublication programs that address the respective needs of judges, judicial*Shreekrishna Mulmi is the Research Officer at the National Judicial Academy (NJA) of
Nepal. He holds a LL.M. in Criminal and Corporate Law from the University of Pune in India
in 2004 and second LL.M. in Human Rights from the University of Hong Kong in 2009.

17

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c

officers, government attorneys, government legal officers, judicial officers,
private law practitioners and others who are directly involved in the administration of justice.
In short, under the nja Act, it has the following objectives:• To conduct training, conference, workshop, seminar, symposium,interaction program for the purpose of enhancing knowledge andprofessional skills of the judges, judicial officers, government attorneys and private law practitioners and bringing about attitudinalchanges that enhance competence.
• To undertake research in the field of law and justice and to makeavailable legal literature of scholarly and practical significance tojudges, judicial officers and others who are involved in judicial
administration.
• To promote a competitive, professionally competent, service-oriented and effective private Bar.
The Government of Nepal allocates an annual budget as a grant necessary for the training and research activities and also expenses for the salaryand facilities of nja staff (both regular and those on contract basis). The
Executive Board and Governing Council of nja approve an annual plan in
the beginning of each fiscal year for the training and research activities. The
plan basically depends on training needs assessment in the clientele organizations and also on demands put forward by clientele organizations for the
fiscal year. Basically, the program planning addresses the training needs ofjudges, judicial officers and prosecutors who are being promoted to higher
posts, and also judges who are being transferred from one place to another.
Some programs are designed as refresher courses. Nja also provides in-service training for the newly designated Officers of the Nepal Judicial Service
after promotion to higher posts. There is no specific method or criteria indesigning the programs, but the annual plans are based on the needs gathered from consultations with the clientele organizations.
After fixing the dates of the training activities for the whole year andpreparing the respective curriculums, nja sends request letters for nomination of participants in the training activities to the concerned nomineeorganizations.4 Nja provides travel and daily allowances to nominated participants for taking part in the training activities.

National Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training: The Nepal Experience19

Nja also provides training based on specific agreements with partnerorganizations. Plans under these agreements are set according to the convenience of nja and partner organizations.
Human Rights Programs and Methodology
The training program of nja on human rights and other thematic issues
is designed to provide all stakeholders the opportunity to interact among
themselves. The mixed group training is meant to facilitate the identification of human rights problems by the participants themselves and for themto find out the role that each of them could play to address the problems.
In addition, the training program includes field visits to enable the participants to understand the reality of the subject matter and to discuss concretemeasures to address the issue. The nja training focuses on enhancement ofknowledge and skills of the participants, and development of positive attitudes towards their professional life.
Trained judges, prosecutors and judicial officers from the Nepali Judicial
Service implement the program. The nja faculty members and other officers
also lead the training sessions. Whenever the subject of the training requires
specific input, experts from non-law sectors are invited to lead the sessions.
Nja usually trains the trainers on how to make their presentations more
effective and interesting. The nja also undertakes content-based training
for the trainers focusing on particular thematic issues. Thus the nja trainers have training on both the process and content of the training program.
Njaproposes a list of trainers from among judges, prosecutors, lawyers andjudicial officers from the Nepali Judicial Service. The respective institutions
formally nominate the proposed trainers. The list of proposed trainers ismade on the basis of academic and professional credentials, and the possibility of their future role as members of the extended faculty of nja.
The pedagogical approach in the human rights education activities ofnja generally consist of paper presentations, discussions, and interactive
question-and-answer sessions. On some occasions, group exercises are carried out to facilitate interaction among the participants. Relevant handouts
are distributed to the participants.
Each training session runs for one hour and a half. Three to four sessions
are held each day. Resource persons for particular subjects are assigned inadvance. Usually, topics are assigned to those who have relevant expertise20

H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i cand experience. As to structure and delivery, nja urges the educators, facilitators, and presenters to use adult learning methods in the delivery ofteaching sessions to enable them to lead or deliver the training program
more effectively. The trainers/facilitators use teaching aids (powerpoint andflip charts) and facilities (overhead projector and other equipments). They
also distribute handouts or powerpoint printouts to the participants
The participants evaluate each session. The evaluation covers the performance of the resource person as trainer in the session. The participants
fill up an evaluation form at the end of each training session. The aggregate
score of the participants’ evaluation is a major factor in deciding whether
or not to invite the resource person as trainer in the next training program.
Only those who receive high scores in the evaluation are invited in the next
training activities.
The participants also evaluate the whole training program, filling up
evaluation forms during the final day of the training. This evaluation covers the organization of the training activity, selection of the topics, resource
persons, and venue. They are also requested to give feedback on the overallmanagement of the training. This is mainly meant to help the nja and thetraining coordinator to improve their management of the subsequent trainings. See Annex A for an example of a training workshop program.
Human Rights Education Activities
A number of training activities and workshops on curriculum development for potential resource persons and trainers started immediately after
the nja establishment in 2004. During the 2004-2005 period, nja held four
Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops to train resource persons on how tolead training sessions. The curriculum development workshops developed
a number of curriculums for different tiers of judges and other officials in
the judiciary.5 Nja also held orientation programs for District Judges fromdifferent districts and Bench Officers working in the Supreme Court. In addition, the nja held a number of training activities on commercial law. All
together, around five hundred participants attended the nja initial training
program. Though human rights training was not the main focus of the activities during this period, human rights training activities initiated the nja human rights program for the judiciary in Nepal. Also, the then nja Executive
Director, Honorable Justice Kalyan Shrestha and presently a Justice of theNational Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training: The Nepal Experience21

Supreme Court of Nepal, held a number of meetings with different international human rights organizations working in Nepal on this matter.
During the second year (2005-2006 period), nja started to run two
types of programs based on fund source (government budget and donors’fund). Government budget supports the program for the overall knowledge
and capacity development of the stakeholders of the Judiciary, whereas programs in partnership with donors focus on different areas of human rights.
During the second year, nja held a number of programs on human rights
issues such as combating human trafficking, and gender equality and justice. NJA worked in partnership with several donors such as the United
Nations Development Fund for Women (unifem), United States Agency forInternational Development (usaid), South Asia Regional Initiative/Equity(sari/Equity, New Delhi), Mainstreaming Gender Equity Program (mgep),etc. Nja was able to develop a handful of resource persons in the area of gender justice through its training for trainers activities. It even facilitated discussion with South Asian judges on combating human trafficking and also
invited experts from other countries to share knowledge and experiences incombating human trafficking and gender justice issues. As a result, nja wasable to establish partnership with United Nations agencies and international
non-governmental organizations for the enhancement of judicial capacity.
Altogether around one hundred fifty Judges and officials of the judiciary
took part in the combating human trafficking and gender justice training
activities. Beside those partnerships, nja has completed eighteen regulartraining and curriculum development activities. It also completed an assessment of the training needs of its stakeholders. The assessment showedthat almost all respondents demanded training on human rights topics. In
response, nja designed a two-year training plan covering all areas of law
and justice including human rights issues. From this period onward, nja
has been designing curriculums for different groups of stakeholders with acomponent on sensitization of participants on human rights and related issues whenever relevant in the courses.
During the third year (2006-2007 period) the nja programs and partnerships continued to expand and have more focus on human rights andgender justice. Human rights sessions have been incorporated in the generaltraining design for judges and other officials of the judiciary. There was aparticular focus on juvenile justice training in view of the establishment ofjuvenile bench in pilot courts covering almost all district judges and other of-

22

H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i cficers designated to work in such juvenile benches. This training was in partnership with the Central Child Welfare Board (ccwb), a statutory body forthe realization child rights.6 During this year, judges and high officials weretrained in the University of Queensland Center for Public and International
Law in Australia on management and chairing judicial sessions. In addition
to training activities, nja initiated research programs to support compliancewith judicial directives particularly on human rights cases brought to theSupreme Court of Nepal through public interest litigation. Altogether there
were thirty-one training activities, including eleven partnership-based activities, and most of them were related to human rights issues. Five hundred
ninety-two participants benefited from the nja program during this year.
On the third year (2007-2008 period), nja held thirty-five training activities that included interactions, orientation programs, workshops andconsultations. Twelve training activities were government funded andcategorized as in-house programs and another twenty-three activities
were partnership funded. Nja held these activities with the support fromdifferent agencies such as ccwb, United Nations (UN) agencies such as
Public-Private Partnership for Urban Environment (pppue) Project of theUnited Nations Development Programme (undp), and other institutions
such as Dewalka Foundation, and Danida-Human Rights and Governance
Programme (hugou). Apart from the normal courses for the Judges, judicial officers, prosecutors and lawyers, nja held a thirty-five-day long in-service training for the Officers of Nepal Judicial Service. In this course, apartfrom the other proficiency enhancement-related topics, human rights andhumanitarian law related subjects were also introduced. Basic human rights
concepts, international human rights instruments, implementation mechanisms of human rights instruments, fair trial issues, gender justice, juvenile
justice, access to justice and many other human rights issues were discussed.
Similarly, during this period nja held a large number of juvenile justicerelated five-day training activities covering one hundred twenty judges ofdifferent district courts and twenty-two judges of the Court of Appeal of
the country. The objective of the training was to sensitize the judges on juvenile justice based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and as
part of state obligation to guarantee the rights of children. Nja worked with
Danida/hugou and pppue for the different training activities. Moreover,the nja prepared a comprehensive training-cum-resource manual and standard operating procedure (sop) for the use of the Nepali Judiciary in view ofNational Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training: The Nepal Experience23

the Combating Human Trafficking Act passed by the Parliament. The manual incorporated national, regional and international, agreements, declarations, memorandums of understanding (MoU), conventions and chartersthat directly or indirectly relate to human trafficking and the human rights
of women and children.
In addition to the activities under the regular and partnership-based
activities, nja organized talks on specific issues with the participation of
special guest speakers. They were eminent scholars from different countries
who delivered talks on different issues of human rights and justice.
During the third year (2007-2008 period), the respected former Chief
Justice of India and United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee member, Mr. P.N. Bhagwati, delivered a talk on “Justiciability of Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights” on 18 December 2007. The Justices of the Nepali
Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, judges of district courts, the Attorney
General of Nepal, other high level judicial officials, and lawyers attended thetalk. Similarly, another former Chief Justice of India, Mr. J.S. Verma, delivered a talk on the “Role of Judiciary in the Working of Indian Federalism.”
Justice Verma also led the National Human Rights Commission of India andwas known for judicial creativity in the field of gender and social justice,sustainable development and human rights. Judges and high-level judicial
officials and lawyers attended the talk, and engaged in a fruitful discussion.
Moreover, a renowned feminist and Professor, Catharine MacKinnon,delivered a speech on “Mainstreaming Women’s Rights Issues in the Justice
System” on 12 May 2008. Professor Suzannah Linton, Director of ll.m.
Program at the University of Hong Kong, gave a speech on the “Role ofJudges in Time of Transition” in March 2008. After her speech, the participants engaged the speaker in an extensive discussion. Judges of the Court ofAppeal and district courts, senior prosecutors and other high-level judicial
officials and lawyers were present in the talks.
On the fourth year (2008-2009 period), nja held a total of fifty-nine
training activities, workshops, seminars, and talks for the judges, government attorneys, officers and staffs of the courts, lawyers, police officers
and officers of quasi-judicial bodies. A total of one thousand eight hundred
thirty-three persons participated in the activities. Nja also undertook two
research activities on government grants and partnership basis.
The activities during this year focused more on gender justice andequality in partnership with unifem, United Nations Population Fund24

H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c(unfpa) and undp/Enhancing Access to Justice Program. Three-day-longactivities were held with a total of around one hundred fifty participants(judges, government attorneys, officers and staffs of the courts, lawyers, police officers and officers of quasi-judicial bodies). These activities covered
different issues including gender justice and equality, gender discriminationand its effects, women’s access to justice, national and international legal
provisions to combat gender-based violence and their review, role of the judiciary and other institutions in gender justice, legal provisions against trafficking of women and children, provisions and secrecy procedures relating
to in-camera hearing, and protection of victims and witnesses. In addition, aseparate activity regarding in-camera hearing was held to make participants
conversant with legal provisions and secrecy procedures that protect theright to privacy of victims in the judicial process. A total of sixty membersof the judiciary directly benefited from this one-day activity.
During this period, different scholars delivered speeches on different themes on law and justice. Professor Diegfried Bross, a Judge in theFederal Constitutional Court of Germany, gave a talk on “Experiencesof Constitutional Court in Germany” and answered the queries made by
the judges and other participants. Similarly, Professor Jean Zermatten(then Vice-Chairperson and now Chairperson of the UN Committee on
the Rights of the Child) gave a talk on “Global Trends on Juvenile Justice,”while Professor John Gerrit Lammers, Director of Hague Forum for Judicial
Expertise in the Netherlands, delivered a talk on the concepts of monism
and dualism in international law.
On the fifth year (2009-2010 period), nja held sixty-one different activities on law and justice involving three hundred fifty-four judges, five
hundred ninety-eight officers, three hundred twenty-seven junior staff, one
hundred forty-one private law practitioners, and one hundred forty-one
other participants (members of the police, civil society members, professors, human rights activists, representatives of different organizations). Nja
also prepared eleven studies and research materials. Like in the preceding
years, nja held in this year its regular programs including human rightsrelated activities.
Nja held induction training for judges of Court of Appeal, District
Court judges who were promoted to the Court of Appeal, and District Court
judges. The induction training included discussion of a number of humanrights topics. A thirty-five-day in-service training for the officers of Nepal
Judicial Service included discussion on major human rights instruments

National Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training: The Nepal Experience25

and their implementing mechanisms along with humanitarian and international criminal law as part of the curriculum.
During this period, nja undertook a number of activities that were directly related to human rights. They included the following:a. Manual on Human Rights in the Administration of Justice
The perceived lack of manual on human rights training for the Nepali
judiciary made nja prepare a comprehensive manual on human rights inthe administration of justice in Nepal based on the Human Rights in the
Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors
and Lawyers, produced by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights. Human rights experts and judges were involved in the preparation of this manual. This voluminous manual of seven hundred pages
covers human rights-related cases decided by the Nepali judiciary. It is in
Nepali script so that all judges and officials of the Nepali judiciary can readit easily. It covers the following topics:• Concept of international human rights, legal provisions relating tofundamental rights in Nepal and assessment of other legal provisions related to human rights in Nepal• Major Instruments on Universal Human Rights• Regional Human Rights Instruments and Their Implementation
Mechanisms• Independence and Impartiality of Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers• Concepts on Fair Trial, Provisions relating to Fair Trial Issues (PreTrial, Trial and Post Trial)• International Legal Standards for the Protection of Persons
Deprived of Liberty• Use of Non-custodial Measures in the Administration of Justice• The Rights of the Child in the Administration of Justice• Women’s Rights in the Administration of Justice• Some Other Key Rights: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, Religion,
Opinion, Expression, Association, and Assembly• The Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination in the Administrationof Justice• The Role of the Courts in Protecting Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights26

H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c•••

Protection and Redress for Victims of Crime and Human Rights
Violations
The Administration of Justice During State of Emergency
Concepts of Transitional Justice and their Uses.

Nja held three training activities on the subject “Human Rights in the
Administration of Justice” prepared by learned experts in partnership with
European Union’s Conflict Mitigation Program (cmp) II and taking different
aspects of human rights concerns into consideration. District Court judges,
officers of Nepal Judicial Service, private law practitioners and police officers participated in the activities. One training activity was held in the eastern region of the country and the remaining two were held in Kathmandu.
Among the three activities, one was five-day long and two were three-day
long. A total of eighty participants were trained in these three training activities. Apart from this, nja held a three-day training activity on “Human
Rights and Social Justice.” Twenty-four participants consisting of District
Court judges, officers of Nepal Judicial Service and private law practitioners
participated in this training that focused on the concept of human rights,
international standards for the implementation of human rights treaties,
comparative study on social justice in different countries, position and application of social justice in Nepal, measures for promoting social justice in
Nepal, etc.
b. Training on incorporating international human rights instruments
into domestic judgments
Nja undertook two two-day trainings for forty Bench Officers (Judges’
Assistants) at the Supreme Court in partnership with the UN Office of HighCommissioner for Human Rights in Nepal on incorporating international
human rights instruments into domestic judgments. The second training
had improvements based on the feedbacks received from the participants inthe first training. The first training included concepts of human rights law,
the remedies for the victims of human rights violations, status of international human rights and their domestic application, serious human rights
violations, relations between human rights law and humanitarian law, androle of Bench Officers in the human rights violations cases.

National Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training: The Nepal Experience27

c. Consultation on Right against Torture
Since the right against torture had not been discussed much in the
training activities for the Nepali Judiciary, nja focused on combating torture in a consultation held in 2010. The consultation discussed torture
as one of the serious human rights violations and the state obligation toguarantee the protection of the right against torture in particular when
persons were interrogated for any crimes. It also included the discussionof national and international efforts and mechanisms for the prevention of
torture, judicial response against torture, and the role of judges. Twentyfive participants attended the consultation, which was held with the support
from the Association for the Prevention of Torture, Geneva and Advocacy
Forum-Nepal.
d. Training on Juvenile Justice System
Beside those trainings, there were other partnership-based projects
for other human rights issues such as juvenile justice and gender justice.
During the 2009-2010 period, eight three-day training activities on juvenile justice have been held. In partnership with unicef, seven activities ofthree days each have been conducted in different places of the country. The
participants were Shrestedars (Chief Administration Officers of the District
Courts), other officers of the courts, lawyers and police officers. Similarly,
in partnership with ccwb, one activity was conducted for junior staff designated to the Juvenile Bench in different parts of the country. In this training activity, contents like child development, juvenile delinquency and its
causes, concept of juvenile justice and present situation of Nepal, restorative
justice, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international
instruments, the Child Rights Act and related instruments in Nepal alongwith judicial trends on juvenile justice were discussed. These training activities covered around two hundred participants.
e. Training on Gender JusticeIn partnership with unifem, nja held four training activities of threedays each on gender equality and justice for the staff working in judicial sectors. The training included the following topics:• Concepts of Gender Equality• Gender Discrimination and Gender Justice28

H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

International Frameworks on Gender Justice with Special Reference
to Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination
Against Women
Recent Changes on Legal Regime on Gender Justice in Nepal
Anti-trafficking Law of Women and Children
Protection of Victims and Children in Judicial Process
In-camera Hearing: Concepts and Process
Developing Positive Attitude towards Gender Victims
Right to Privacy and Supreme Court’s Guidelines on Right toPrivacy
Judicial Trends on Gender Justice in Nepal.

On the sixth year (2010-2011 period), nja expanded its activities andcompleted eighty-two activities involving two thousand two hundred
eighty-two participants (judges of all tiers, prosecutors, judicial officers, law
officers, lawyers, support staff and other officials).
Nja held activities focusing on human rights issues as in the previous
year including the following:a. Training on Human Rights in the Administration of Justice
Nja held five training activities in different parts of country in partnership with the International Commission of Jurists and Advocacy ForumNepal on “Human Rights in the Administration of Justice.” The training activities used the manual on human rights in the administration of justice.
Each training lasted for five days, and involved one hundred ten judges,
prosecutors and lawyers.
b. Training on Gender Justice and Gender-based ViolenceThis three-day training was held twelve times, with two hundred fifty
judges and other officers of the judiciary as participants.
c. Training on Transitional JusticeThis two-day training aimed to facilitate justice to the victims of armed
conflict, end the state of impunity, and find out the role of judiciary. It also
covered discussion on transitional process and models to transform peacein a real sense. One hundred participants joined the training activities thatwere supported by Advocacy Forum-Nepal.

National Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training: The Nepal Experience29

d. Workshop on Human Rights and Social Justice
Nja held the “Workshop on Human Rights and Social Justice in Nepal”
to impart knowledge on jurisprudence and practice on social and economic
rights including the rights of disadvantaged groups such as rights of women and rights of indigenous and marginalized groups developed at the international level in recent times. Further, it discussed the enforceability ofsocio-economic rights in Nepal. The workshop had an experience-sharing
format. International resource persons from the University of Oslo as wellas domestic resource persons facilitated the sessions. There were fruitfulinteractions and discussions between the participants and the resource persons. The participants were from different justice sectors including judgesof Court of Appeal, District Court judges, prosecutors, high-ranking judicial officers and private law practitioners working in the field of constitutional and socio-economic issues in Nepal. A new partner, the NorwegianCenter for Human rights, Oslo University worked with the nja in holding
the workshop.
e. Training on right to privacy and in-camera hearing process
Nja held several training activities on the role of the judiciary in minimizing violence against women and creating a just society that ensures
women’s human rights. In this context, the training activities dealt with themeans of ensuring right to privacy of women victims and their access tojustice. They focused on the in-camera hearing process and its significant
role. One hundred participants took part in these activities, with the support of UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women).
f. Workshop on rights of migrant women workers
The UN Women and the Ministry of Labor and Transportation
Management worked with nja in holding two-day workshops on the rightsof migrant women workers. Eighty judges and other staff attended theprogram.
Publications and Research Activities
In line with its objectives, nja produces publications that support the development of the legal system and enhance the capacity of judges and other hu-

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c

man resources of Nepali Judiciary through upgraded knowledge and skills.
The nja publications aim to sensitize them and make them conversant with
the international law jurisprudence. See Annexes B and C for the list of publications and research activities undertaken by nja so far.
Since the nja is an institution established for academic discussion andinformation dissemination to concerned organizations toward legal and judicial reform, it began the publication of its research activities through thenja Law Journal. Articles contributed by eminent scholars, jurists, experts
from the within and outside the country are published in this journal. It isalso meant to encourage and strengthen serious legal research in Nepal andreach out to a larger community in Nepal and abroad. nja sees the importance of research and judicial education going hand-in-hand to enrich eachother through enhanced knowledge and skill and development of synergy
for bringing about reforms.
Since the Nepali system of law and justice is still evolving, it requires
academic discussion to internalize and adopt values developed in the field ofinternational law and human rights. For this purpose, a sustained collaboration of academia and practitioners in research and publication is needed.
nja hopes that the nja Law Journal is providing a platform for such collaboration. Nja Law Journal started as an annual publication in 2007. See Annex
B for the list of nja Law Journal issues.
Nja also publishes annually a report on its activities. See Appendix B
for the list of Annual Reports that have been published.
Challenges and Conclusion
Within the short span since its establishment, the nja has undertaken a large
number of trainings for judges and other participants as well as research
activities that are needed by the judiciary. The research programs proved
to be foundation of interventions to develop the legal and judicial systems
in Nepal. So far, the nja has trained seven thousand three hundred fortyfour participants through the three hundred fourteen training activities held
since its establishment. The training activities significantly increased in recent years. As mentioned above, nja held eighty-two training activities covering a total of two hundred ninety-eight days during the 2009-2010 periodalone. These training activities have significant impact on the professional
life of the judges and other participants. The impact is seen in the form ofNational Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training: The Nepal Experience

31

upgraded knowledge in international human rights law, advancement in thedelivery of justice, incorporation of human rights standards in the court decisions, sensitization in gender justice and juvenile justice, and many others.
There has been no survey undertaken to measure the impact, however.
Nja faces many challenges in its training program. First of all, the numerous training activities of nja have not yet been evaluated on their effectiveness or impact. With regard to human rights training, the activities
have varied modes of execution and courses due to the different partners
involved and limitation of funding resources. There is a need for training on
impact assessment on the work of the judiciary to make the training more
effective. In addition, organizational change is needed to allow longer-term
programming. Piecemeal programming may not bring change in a way thatwould be noted by the people at large. Therefore, the introduction of large
scale and sustainable projects is required to see more positive signs in the
Nepali Judiciary.
Having trained human resource has been a static problem at the njafrom its inception. The institutionalization of nja depends on available
trained human resources. The Supreme Court and the Office of the Attorney
General have deputed few judges and high-level officers as trainers. These
judges and high-level officers are deputed without fixed tenure, and therefore serve only for a year or two. With interim work period, they face lack ofknowledge on training management and teamwork culture. Some of themalso suffer in continuing to serve their superiors while acting as trainers at
the nja. In this context, since nja was established as independent and autonomous body, it should expedite the development of its own faculty members. This will minimize the tension caused by deputation on ad hoc basis
and will avoid the problem related to extreme lack of court judges.
Another challenge refers to the need for the nja faculty members to bewell verse with the knowledge, as well as skill, in teaching global trends onmodel judiciary. They need training in this regard such as through exposure
visit and participation in the international programs on the subject. In addition, the faculty members can take academic courses such as ll.m. and PhD
programs or Juris Doctor research programs that are worthwhile contributions to the institution-building of nja. There is no doubt that the nja needs
highly skilled and research oriented faculty members. To keep them withinnja, a staff retention policy on providing attractive work package should
be adopted. The 2006 nja Act has a provision on the establishment of an32

H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c

Academy Fund that can be used for this purpose. But this system is not in
operation yet.
Endnotes
1 A Judicial Training Centre that existed prior to 1990 was only for the officersof the Nepal Judicial Service who worked under the Ministry of Law and Justice,
Government of Nepal.
2 The Chair of the Governing Council of the NJA is the Chief Justice of Nepal.
The members consist of the following: the Minister of Law and Justice, the ViceChairperson of National Planning Commission; two justices from among the sitting
Justices of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General of Nepal, one person fromamong the retired Justices of the Supreme Court, the Dean of the Faculty of Law
at Tribhuvan University, one judge from among the sitting judges of the Court ofAppeal, one person from among the professors of law having at least five years ofteaching experience, the President of the Nepal Bar Association, one judge fromamong the sitting judges of District Courts, and three law graduates representing
women, ethnic communities and Dalits (Nepalis who are discriminated based on
their low caste) having fifteen years of involvement in the field of law and justice.
The Executive Director of National Judicial Academy acts as Member-Secretary to
the Council.
3 An Executive Director heads the NJA Executive Board, while the Secretary
to the Ministry of Law and Justice, Secretary to the Judicial Council, Registrar of theSupreme Court, Senior-most Deputy Attorney General of the Office of the Attorney
General, General Secretary to the Nepal Bar Association work are Members. The
Governing Council as Member-Secretary of the Executive Board nominates a senior-most employee of the NJA.
4 For the nomination of Judges of all tiers and judicial officers in all courtsin the country, a request letter is sent to the Supreme Court of Nepal; for theProsecutors’ nomination, a request letter is forwarded to the Office of the Attorney
General; for the officers working under the Ministry of Law and Justice, a request
letter is dispatched to the Ministry of Law and Justice; and similarly, for the lawyers’
nomination, a request letter is sent to Nepal Bar Association.
5 NJA developed four curriculums including the Curriculum for Knowledge
and Skill Enhancement in the Professional Life for the Officers of Judicial Service
Working in the Different Tiers of Courts in Nepal, Curriculum for the Professional
Capacity and Knowledge Enhancement for the District Judges, Curriculum for the
Capacity and Knowledge Enhancement of Bench Officers Working in Different
Courts, Curriculum for Knowledge and Capacity Enhancement of the District
Attorneys (Government Prosecutors).
6 Created by the Children’s Act 2048 BS (1992).

National Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training: The Nepal Experience33

Annex A
Program of Workshop on Combating Traffickingof Women and Children
2006
Kathmandu, Nepal
A. Workshop on Effective Implementation of the Laws and the Institutional
Mechanism to Combat Trafficking of Women and Children in Nepal – Part I
1. Inaugural
2. Field Visit - ABC Nepal, Koteshwor, Kathmandu
3. Session One - Conceptual Understanding of Human Trafficking, Migration and
Prostitution and Role of Judiciary in Combating Human Trafficking
4. Session Two - Women’s Human Rights, Violence against Women and Gender
Justice
5. Discussion of the Observations from the Field Visit
6. Session Three - Psychological Impact of Violence on Women
7. Session Four - National Laws, International and Regional Legal Framework
against Trafficking
8. Session Five (Joint Session) - Effective Implementation of Anti-trafficking Laws
8. 1 Victims’ Perspective
8. 2 Civil Society’s Perspective
8. 3 Police’s Perspective
8. 4 Government Attorneys’ Perspective
8. 5 Judges’ Perspective
9. Session Six - Making Road to Justice Accessible: Victim Protection, Appearanceand Examination and In-camera Hearing
10. Session Seven - Critical Assessment of the Judicial Responses on Trafficking
Related Cases
11. Session Eight - Relevance of Victim/Witness Protection Scheme in Criminal
Justice System Particularly in Trafficking Related Case
12. Concluding Session

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Annex B
Publications of the National Judicial Academy
Proceedings of the Judges’ Workshop on Combating Trafficking
n Women and Children (2006)
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Resource material relating to judicial capacity enhancement (2007)
Resource materials relating to gender justice (2006)
A research report on the situation of implementation of directive orders issued
by the Supreme Court of Nepal (2006)
A Study on Implementation of Directive Orders Issued by the Supreme Court(2007)
Compilation of judgments of District Courts (2009)
Concepts on in-camera hearing and its operating guidelines (2009)
Standard operating procedure (SOP) for investigation, prosecution of thehuman trafficking offence (2008)
Guidelines on judgment execution (2009)
Resource materials on mediation (2009)
Research on judgment execution: Problems and measure for solutions (2009)
Compilation of landmark judgments of District Courts (2010)
Compilation of landmark judgments of Court of Appeal (2010)
A study on the review of Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court andexisting Nepali criminal law (2010)
Manual on Human Rights in the Administration of Justice (2009)
The landmark decisions of the Supreme Court, Nepal on Gender Justice (inNepali) (2010)
The landmark decisions of the Supreme Court, Nepal on Gender Justice (inEnglish) (2010)
Concepts on in-camera hearing and its operating guidelines (2010)
Resource materials on juvenile justice (2010)
Sentencing policy: principles, practices and requirements for amendments(2010)
Compilation of judgments on children rights and juvenile justice (2010)
A Study on Domestic Violence Act, 2066 in line with International Human
Rights Principles (2011)
Present status of criminal justice administration by quasi-judicial authorities(2011)

National Judicial Academy’s Human Rights Training: The Nepal Experience

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Laws to be amended for the accession of Rome Statute of International
Criminal Court (2011)
Status of Environmental Justice in Nepal (2011)
Status of Gender Discrimination and Gender Justice in Nepal (2011)
Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its Procedural Fairness (2011)
Concept of Intellectual Property in the Context of Nepal (2011)
Transnational Organized Crime: Effective Combating Measures (2011)
Social Justice and Human Rights (2011)
Compilation of Landmark District Court Judgments (2011)
Compilation of Landmark Court of Appeal Judgments (2011).

In addition, NJA has also published the following issues of its law journal and annual
reports:
I. Law journal• NJA Law Journal, 2007
• NJA Law Journal, 2008
• NJA Law Journal, 2009
• NJA Law Journal, 2010
II. Annual Report• Annual Report 2004/05 (in Nepali)• Annual Report 2005/06 (in Nepali)• Annual Report 2006/07 (in English)• Annual Report 2007/08 (in Nepali)• Annual Report 2007/08 (in English)• Annual Report 2008/09 (in Nepali)• Annual Report 2008/09 (in English)• Annual Report 2009/10 (in Nepali)• Annual Report 2009/10 (in English)

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Annex C
Research Activities of the National Judicial Academy
The following are the reports on research activities undertaken by NJA in the field of
law and justice. Some reports have been published:• A research report on the situation of implementation of directive orders issued
by the Supreme Court of Nepal (2006)• Case-flow Status at the Supreme Court of Nepal (not published)• Research on judgment execution: Problems and measure for solutions (2009)• A study on the review of Rome Statute of International Criminal Court andexisting Nepali criminal law (2009)• Present status of criminal justice administration by quasi-judicial authorities(2011)• A Study on Domestic Violence Act, 2066 in line with International Human
Rights Principles (2011)• Laws to be amended for the accession of Rome Statute of International
Criminal Court (2011)• A Study on Implementation of Directive Orders Issued by the Supreme Court(2007)• A Study on Injunctions and Mandamus issued by the Court of Appeal in Nepal(to be published)• A Study on Court Management No. 188 of National Code and Discretionary
Power of the Judges (to be published)• Impact Analysis of the Training on Case Management conducted by the
National Judicial Academy (to be published)• Cases decided under the Jurisdiction of the Judicial Review and their
Implementing Status (to be published)• Roles and Views of Judiciary of Nepal in Implementing of International Treaties
and Agreements (to be published)• Training Needs Assessment of Lawyers (to be published)