Nepal

Kathmandu, August 15

The parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance committee has endorsed the National Identity and Civil Registration Bill, which states that more than dozen bits of general information, including biometric information, of a citizen will be included in national ID card. There will be different ID cards for foreigners residing in Nepal and Non-Resident Nepalis. The government will also collect general and bio-metrics information of foreigners and NRNs as prescribed by the regulation.

The billproposal was passed by the panel on Wednesday after clause-wise discussion, and is likely to be tabled in the House of Representatives on Sunday. If the HoR meeting on Sunday endorses the bill, it will be sent to the National Assembly, the Upper House, for approval. Following endorsement from both the houses, the bill will be sent to the presidentoffice to be enacted as law.

The National ID card has two sets of information for Nepali citizens — information on the card (outside) and information inside the card. Information on the card will include name of the concerned person, his/her surname, date of birth, gender, nationality, ID card number, photo, issued date and name and signature of the authorised person who issued the card, permanent address, type of citizenship card and numbers in the citizenship card (those who have obtained citizenship card).

Information stored in electronic chip in the card include name of the concerned person, his/her surname, date of birth, gender, nationality, ID card number, photo, issued date and name and signature of the authorised person who issued the card, permanent address, type of citizenship card and numbers in the citizenship card, bio-metrics information, names of parents, names of grand parents and name of spouse.

Those who have obtained citizenship cards and those who are eligible to obtain citizenship cards can apply for the National ID card.

The government will also issue National ID cards for children.

According to the bill, the government will also collect general and biometric information of foreigners and NRNs. Information of those who are working in diplomatic missions, tourists and NRNs will be obtained by the government.

&In the case foreign nationals information to be collected will depend on the nationality of the concerned person and his/her visa status. Required data of a foreigner will be stored inside electronic chip of the card,& Prem Kumar Rai, secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, told THT.

The government had already started distributing National ID cards in the country one month ago. It stopped distributing ID cards following criticism from the main opposition Nepali Congress in the House.

This prompted the government and the panel to initiate clause-wise discussion of the bill. The government will draft a procedure under the bill for obtaining general and digital information, including bio-metrics. Although, the national ID card has more than dozen bits of information, it will not replace citizenship card or other public documents.

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Information on the National ID card

Name, surname, date of birth, gender, nationality, ID card number, photo, date of issuance and name and signature of the authorised person who issued the card, permanent address, types of citizenship card and numbers of the citizenship card (those who have taken citizenship card)

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Information stored in electronic chip of the card

Name, surname, date of birth, gender, nationality, ID card number, photo, date of issuance and name and signature of the authorised person who issued the card, permanent address, type of citizenship card and citizenship card number, bio-metrics information, parents& names, grandparents& names, name of spouse

The post National ID card to include biometric information appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Kathmandu, August 15

Former Judges Forum-Nepal plans to scrutinise some of the recent judgments passed by the Supreme Court with the aim of identifying flaws in those judgments.

FJF-N has formed a five-member committee under Top Bahadur Singh to analyse some of the recent judgments of the apex court to inform the public as to how those judgments contradicted the jurisprudence established in past precedents of the apex court.

Member-Secretary of the committee Shambhu Bahadur Khadka told THT that the committee would start consulting stakeholders — judges, Judicial Council, bar representatives, journalists and lawyers. &We&ll recommend the reasons for the erosion of publicfaith in the judiciary.&

Khadka said the suggestions of the committee would be submitted to the chief justice and if need be, also to the prime minister and political parties. He said the committee would also look into whether the parliamentary hearing of the justices was also a reason behind political influence on the judiciary.

A committee member, Rajendra Kumar Bhandari, said FJF-N took the initiative to suggest measures to enhance the image of the judiciary, as in recent months people felt that political influence was affecting the appointment of SC justices. &I can clearly see some discrepancies in some cases. One example is the Ncell case, which had already been adjudicated by the full bench and yet it was allowed to be revived in the court,& Bhandari said. He added that the FJF-Nsuggestions would help the judiciary to take corrective measures to enhance its image.

Former chief justice Ram Kumar Prasad Sah added that appointment of Supreme Court justices and its verdicts needed to be reviewed to enhance the image of the judiciary.

Sah said some of the judgments passed by the Supreme Court in recent years had contradicted the jurisprudence established in past judgments of the apex court and that needed to be reviewed. &Peoplefaith in judiciary can be enhanced only by sound judgments of the court. Some of the judgments have led to erosion of the peoplefaith in the judiciary,& he said.

Sah added that in recent years, political influence had increased in the judiciary with political parties& attempting to appoint their favourite candidates as the chief justice. &We notice that at the time of recommendation, dates of birth of the candidates are major criteria to ensure that certain candidate becomes eligible for the chief justice after certain years,& Sah said.

He added that this tendency would undermine the morale of judges who aspire to reach the highest post in the judiciary.

&The Judicial Council can resist politicians& attempts to influence the judiciary, but I do not see that happening,& he added.

Former justice Krishna Jung Raymajhi said keeping the judiciary free from political influence could alone help enhance the image of judiciary. &We all know that justices are being appointed on the basis of their political leanings. There will be risk of political influence in judgment as long as judges are appointed on the basis of their political leanings,& he added.

He said the structure of the Judicial Council was faulty as three members of the body — Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, jurist appointed by the prime minister and Nepal Bar Association nominee — represent political ideology. He added that the current structure of the JC should be changed to make appointments more professional.

The post Former judges to scrutinise SC judgments appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

Kathmandu, August 15

Inspector General of Police Sarbendra Khanal has stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to make concerted efforts towards ending human trafficking, a pressing issue dogging the nation.

Speaking at an interaction programme on ‘Partnership Role of Stakeholders in the National Campaign against Human Trafficking& organised in Kathmandu today, he suggested that coordination and collaboration among stakeholder agencies would help dismantle the complicated web of human trafficking that spanned beyond the border.

&All stakeholders need to work together to bring to book the racketeers operating one of the darkest realities on earth,& IGP Khanal said, adding that a special committee would be formed to make the fight against human trafficking more effective. The committee will comprise representatives from all stakeholders.

He said Nepal Police had developed and adopted a strategy to ensure safety of trafficking victims, their rescue and rehabilitation; capacity development of Anti-human Trafficking Bureau and its expansion in all provinces; coordination with the Interpol for rescue of victims and vulnerable people abroad and heightened surveillance at borders. Its anti-trafficking strategy also included coordination with stakeholder agencies at Tribhuvan International Airport and public awareness among population vulnerable to trafficking.

Eshor Raj Poudel, director general at the Department of Immigration, said it was working in close coordination with Nepal Police against the modern form of slavery, and emphasised concerted efforts of all stakeholders for ending the problem. Director General at the Department of Foreign Employment Hari Gyawali, Joint Attorney Lokraj Parajuli, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens Rudra Sharma and Senior Superintendent of Police Ishwar Babu Karki at Anti-human Trafficking Bureau said they were making necessary efforts to control and end organised crime from their respective places.

Evidences suggested that Nepal was not only the country of origin of human trafficking, but it had also become the country of transit for the human smugglers. In 2017, two Sri Lankan women were rescued by police in Kathmandu. They were being trafficked to Malaysia with Nepal as their transit.

Human traffickers were exploiting Nepali women and girls through sex trafficking and domestic servitude in Nepal, India, Gulf countries, Asia and Kenya, said a report released by the US Department of State.

The post Concerted efforts stressed to combat human trafficking appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

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