Nepal's Judiciary Struggles with Low Enforcement of Court Verdicts

Kathmandu. Government negligence has led to a significant failure in the enforcement of court verdicts. According to the Supreme Court's annual report, out of the 46 billion 52 million 58 million 29 thousand 589 rupees and 82 paisa in fines that the court was required to collect, only 14 billion 68 million 63 million 65 thousand 114 rupees and 47 paisa has been recovered.

There remains an outstanding balance of 31 billion 83 million 94 million 64 thousand 475 rupees and 35 paisa in penalties. Only 31.56 percent of fines were collected within a year.

Although the Judgment Execution Directorate was established in 2066/067 to implement Supreme Court orders, the rate of execution remains minimal.

According to the latest annual report of the Supreme Court, in the fiscal year 2081/082, the total jail term to be served across all district courts for criminal cases was 171,592 years and 8 days. Of that, only 56,954 years, 8 months, and 8 days were executed, representing a 33.19 percent recovery rate.

This data indicates that 114,637 years, 4 months, and 10 days of imprisonment remain pending from the previous fiscal year. While the Supreme Court instructs service-providing agencies to restrict services to individuals with outstanding penalties, the statistics show that the expected results have not been achieved.

The Supreme Court's annual report further states that out of 16,059 cases involving victim compensation totaling 1 billion 255 million 967 thousand 993 rupees, only 35 million 85 thousand 364 rupees has been paid to 2,660 victims in 3,344 cases, leaving 900 million 47 million 14 thousand 295 rupees unpaid.

Similarly, out of 7,016,468 rupees ordered as interim compensation, only 2,546,402 rupees has been provided, leaving 4,470,066 rupees outstanding.

The Supreme Court's annual report notes that despite adopting various strategies through strategic plans to improve enforcement, the expected results have not been achieved. It points out that unless enforcement is effective and service recipients feel true justice, the public's faith and trust in the judiciary cannot be further promoted.

The 2058 Court Strengthening Recommendation Committee report stated, 'The finalization of verdicts and orders is only achieved through execution; otherwise, it remains justice on paper.' However, in the last decade, not even one-fourth of the verdicts have been executed.

The Supreme Court Rules, 2074, defines the Judgment Execution Directorate as the central body for enforcement. Despite its mandate to collect fines, imprisonment, and government dues, and to assist in victim compensation, the implementation remains ineffective.

The Supreme Court emphasizes that long-term enforcement is not possible through court efforts alone and requires management by the executive branch of the state.

The report highlights the need for initiatives from the Government of Nepal to effectively implement existing legal provisions that restrict service delivery to individuals with outstanding court dues until those dues are settled.

There is a need for an organizational survey to bring the court's Tahasil branch under the Judgment Execution Directorate. It has been determined that coordination and initiatives are required to amend existing laws to grant federal, provincial, and local governments the responsibility for collecting outstanding jail terms and fines.

The report underscores the necessity for the Government of Nepal to take the lead in ensuring that individuals with pending court dues are denied government services until their obligations are met.