We are commited to judicial reforms: CJ Karki

Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki has said reform in the judiciary is the priority of Supreme Court.

In his address to an inaugural of the 30th National Conference of Women Lawyers organised by the Nepal Bar Association, he said the Supreme Court (SC) expedited the case settlement despite limited human resources. According to him, now the SC has just 16 judges, but it expedites the case settlement.

Around 30 thousand cases in pending have now dropped to 28 thousands, according to the Acting Chief Justice, who said, “We don’t let go even a minute into waste.”

 On the occasion, he shared about the target of reducing pending cases in the SC to nil within the next five years. “We are also committed to significantly reducing the caseload in the High Court as well.”

As he said, lack of timely appointment of judges has contributed to increasing case load in judiciary.

The presence of women lawyers is increasing and newcomers are encouraged to grasp opportunities, he asserted.

SC judge Sapana Pradhan Malla said judiciary has the lowest participation of women and it must be inclusive and gender- friendly in overall.

Attorney General Dr Dinmani Pokharel shared that consultations were being held between the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the House in regard to the earliest appointment of the Chief Justice and pledged full cooperation on his part as the Attorney General.

He urged the female lawyers to move ahead with action-plans to deliver well in their profession.

Similarly, Nepal Bar Association President Gopal Krishna Ghimire called for creating an enabling environment for appointment of the Chief Justice at the earliest as the judiciary had been functioning with Acting Chief Justice for over a year now.

He demanded formation of the Lawyers Academy to train the new law graduates and practicing lawyers.

According to the Nepal Bar Council, there are around 3,000 female lawyers across the country.

More than 400 female lawyers have participated in the Conference, informed Bar's general-secretary Anjita Khanal.

Concept papers on various topics would be presented by the participants in the conference that will issue Birgunj Declaration at the end, it was shared.