Please - Odhikar

Conclusion
The situation of victims of crime in Nepal seems deplorable and pathetic to an inexplicable
extent, despite constitutional guarantees and legal provisions for the protection of human rights
of the vulnerable. As such, the country's justice system is in dire need of improvement through
necessary changes in legislature. But this would not be possible unless the legislation is
amended to help enactment of the "Victim and Witness Protection Act" with incorporation of
victim-focused justice components and establishment of the "Camera Court". Our society,
though more dynamic than ever before, is not proactive in respect of fighting out social evils.
The victim justice system would not improve without a change in social attitude towards the
court, the accused and the victim. Since social justice is more perceivable and tangible than legal
justice, the legal institutions of today are required to restructure the existing legal system so as to
enshrine the principles of rule of law in the country's justice system.
In a democratic system, the question of free and independent judiciary should not be
controversial. However, it is also imperative that the judiciary must be knowledgeable and farsighted,
fair and impartial, and objective and independent. As this is not happening to the desired
extent, the country is now in dire need of people who dare speak the truth towards enhancing
dignity of the court to ensure the qualities it is to be endowed with. Contrary to this, people are
afraid of speaking the truth about the ineffectiveness and insincerity of the court. To make good
things happen, our society is in dire need of strong and committed political leadership capable of
creating a more humane society, rich in moral values and committed to social justice. To this
end, non-governmental organizations and civil society have a significant role to play.
Some of the recommendations I would like to make are as follows:
� Need of promulgation of law to address the victim and witness protection. The legislative
framework needs improving by introducing new statutes, removing outdated ones and redrafting
badly written laws. As far as possible Nepal's laws should follow the standards of the
international instruments ratified by Nepal.
� The traditional procedural law needs to be changed in order to make it compatible with the
provision of the constitution. Measures must be undertaken for active role of the public
prosecutors for implementation of constitutional rights in investigation proceedings.
� The authorities should diligently enquire into all cases of suspected intimidation of witnesses
and establish a witness protection program in order to put an end to the climate of fear that
plagues the investigation and prosecution of such cases.
� Another important feature that requires consideration is the need for an efficient witness
protection scheme that would ensure that witnesses are not intimidated and threatened. The
absence of a witness protection scheme seriously affects criminal justice. Victims are frequently
and seriously threatened, many fear to pursue their complaints. Meanwhile, despite a lot of talk
202
* The author is Chairperson, Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), paper presented in a
discussion meeting on Victim and Witness Protection under national legal regime: South Asian
perspective held on 01 October 2005 in Dhaka
Report 2005