Bills Committee of the parliament has asked the general public and stakeholders to submit their feedback on five bills related to the replacement of the Muluki Ain by mid of April. Earlier, the parliament had decided to solicit public opinion on contempt of court bill, following heavy criticism on some of its provisions.
The government had registered five bills to replace the Muluki Ain, after 162 years of its practice, in the parliament last year. The then Prime Minister Junga Bahadur Rana had issued the Muluki Ain in 1953 (revised in 1963) after his visit to the United Kingdom.
The replacement bills include Civil Code 2071 (2014 AD), Civil Procedure Code, Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Sentencing Act 2014. The Bills Committee aims to submit its report to the parliament by May 2016.
"The replacement bills include many issues directly related to the general public. It aims to change existing laws related to property, defamation and prestige, and crime," said the Bills Committee member Radheshyam Adhikari.
Altogether 276 lawmakers from various political parties have registered amendment proposal on various provisions in the replacement bills. The Bills Committee had already formed five different sub-committees to hold intensive deliberations on amendment proposals.
Radheshyam Adhikari is the coordinator of the Civil Code bill, Rewati Raman Bhandari is the coordinator of the Civil Procedure Code, Krishna Bhakta Pokhrel is assigned to look after the Penal Code bill, Laxman Lal Karna is in charge of the Criminal Procedure Code bill and Ram Narayan Bidari is the coordinator of the Sentencing Act bill.
Another seven-member coordination committee has been formed under the leadership of Bills Committee chairperson Ganga Chaudhary.
In a press conference organized by the Bills Committee on Monday, the committee Chairperson Chaudhary informed that a one-day public suggestion collection program will be organized at various 16 appellate courts across the country.
"We are planning to take suggestion from various stakeholders including the Nepal Bar Association, the Federation of Nepali Journalists and the Civil Society in various stages. However, the date has not been fixed," said Chaudhary.
The committee has appealed the public to send their feedbacks via email (bidhayansamiti@can.gov.np <mailto:bidhayansamiti@can.gov.np>;) and over telephone (014200172) of the parliament secretariat. Similarly, all five bills have been published on the website of the parliament secretariat. The committee also plans to publish the key provisions of the bills in newspapers for public information.
According to lawmakers at the Bills Committee, the legal structure of the judiciary is likely to be transformed into continental law from the existing common law after the endorsement of the replacement bills.
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