he new constitution of Nepal promulgated by the elected Publisher’s Constituent Assembly (CA) in 2015 has transformed Nepal from Tunitary to federal state with three distinct tiers of governments Note – at federal, province and local level. Th ey have also been bestowed with executive, legislative and some judicial powers. In particular, the structures of provinces are new ones for Nepal. Th ere are seven provinces altogether. Th e matter of federalism itself is relatively new in Nepal. Th is method of governance was adopted as a result of people’s movement, and Madhes movement in particular. Out of the seven provinces, the Province 2 is predominantly in the Madhes region and is one of the most ardent proponents of federal system of governance. In these initial period, the adoption of federal system of governance have faced a number of challenges. Th e smooth implementation of federalism as per the constitution is vital for the success of the constitution. Th e operation of federalism and governance in Province 2, therefore, is crucial for the eff ective and successful operation of the constitution itself. As such, the Nepal Law Society (NLS) joined hands with the Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal last year to provide technical support to the Province 2 – based on their demands. Th ere were three components to this support – workshop with the provincial government, provincial assembly and province-level agencies of judiciary. Th e project involved a lot of planning and participatory workshop that were led by the stakeholders themselves to strengthen the good governance, law making and judicial service delivery through improved coordination and collaboration. Th e NLS is thankful to the Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal as well as Province 2 stakeholders including the Chief Minister, Speaker of the Assembly, High Court Judges for their role and contribution. Th e NLS also thanks former Deputy Prime Minister and senior leader Mr. Upendra Yadav and former Chief Justice Mr. Kalyan Shrestha for their active participation and facilitation. Despite the challenges brought upon by Covid-19 pandemic, we were able to safely conduct the programs and activities. Th e NLS is glad to bring out this report in a book form that includes the programs, activities and achievements from the project. Tirtha Man Shakya 2021 April Chairperson, Nepal Law Society Report Of Th e Activities- 2020/2021 c Contents Executive Summary ...............................................................................1 1. Background ....................................................................................3 2. Objective .........................................................................................4 3. Target Groups/Benefi ciaries ..........................................................5 4. Key Achievements/Outcomes .......................................................5 5. Key Lessons Learned .....................................................................6 6. Key Challenges ...............................................................................7 7. Completed Activities ......................................................................7 7.1 Advisory Committee ..............................................................7 7.2 Planning meetings .................................................................8 7.3 Need Assessment with Benefi ciaries ....................................9 7.4 Workshop on Parliamentary Practice, Democratic and Inclusive Law Making Process ............................................11 7.5 Workshop on Eff ective Service Delivery at Province Level – Federal Perspective ................................. 13 7.6 Workshop on Judiciary Service Delivery: Expectations and Role of Province and Local Government .................... 16 7.7 Review of the completed activities .................................... 20 Annexes Annex 1: Summary of Planning Meeting .......................................... 24 Annex 2: Minute of Planning Meeting .............................................. 30 Annex 3: Need Assessment meeting with benefi ciaries ...................35 Annex 4: Parliamentary Practice, Democratic and Inclusive Law Making Process at Province Level Interaction Workshop................................ 51 Annex 5: Eff ective Service Delivery at Province Level – Federal Perspective .......................................................... 68 Annex 6: Judiciary Service Delivery: Expectations and Role of Province and Local Government ........................................78 Annex 7: Proceeding of Review Meetings 12 February '21 .............. 90 Annex 8: Proceeding of Review Meetings 28 February '21 .............. 94 Annex 9: Participants of Major Programs ......................................... 97 d Good Governance, Law Making & Justice Delivery In Province 2 he Constitution of Nepal 2015 ushered the federal system Executive of governance in the country. Th e country is currently in Tthe process of implementing the constitution consolidating Summary inclusive democracy through good governance and eff ective service delivery. For the fi rst time, the constitution adopted the three-tier governance system – federal, province and local level. Each of the three tiers have been empowered and provided with executive, legislative and some judicial powers. Particularly, the provincial system is quite new for Nepal. Th e constitution divided the country into 7 provinces. Each provinces are governed by elected provincial governments that have constitutionally-designated executive powers. Th ey also have assemblies that function as provincial legislatures. Judiciary has been left as unitary structure by the constitution. But there are High Courts and District Courts that are functional in the provinces. Out of the seven provinces, Province No. 2 cover seight districts that largely constitute of Terai – Madhesh region. Th e people from Madhesh were keen to institutionalize federalism in the new constitution. Th ere was people’s movement in Madhesh that resulted in amendment in interim constitution. Even now, the key political parties in the region have continued to demand further amendments in the constitution regarding various aspects of federalism. In a sense, federalism was a key demand of this region and the success of federalism is very close to the heart of this region. As such, the leaders and parties of the region are profoundly concerned about the successful implementation of the constitution, and consolidation of federal system of governance. Th e Province No. 2 government, assembly and the judicial agencies have been keen on improving the governance and service delivery for the benefi t of the people and to keep the constitution implementation on right track. Th ey requested technical support in the area of reforms and coordination in the governance, law making and judicial service delivery. In this connection, the Nepal Law Society (NLS) joined hands with the Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal to support the implementation of the constitution by helping the Province No. 2 in the afore-mentioned areas through support to policy/law making, strengthening governance and enhancing the judicial service delivery in partnership with the concerned stakeholders. Th e NLS has a long experience of facilitating the policy support programs by mobilizing experts and stakeholders. For this purpose, the NLS conducted series of formal and informal meetings with the stakeholders to identify the key areas where they needed expert assistance. Th e key objectives of this intervention, thus, were set out through discussions with the stakeholders themselves. Th us, major objectives were identifi ed as improving the state of governance through discussion on policies and programs of provincial government; role and challenges of provincial government on law making in federal framework; and role of provincial government for Report Of Th e Activities- 2020/2021 1 law making on criminal issues as per the federal framework. Likewise, it aimed to support the increased eff ectiveness of the provincial assembly on democracy, parliamentary practices and law making on criminal issues. For ensuring eff ective implementation of laws formulated by province and local level and for discussing the roles and challenges of province-level judiciary in the new constitutional set up, it also aimed to bring together judges of High Court and concerned District Courts, and court offi cials of Province 2. Th e project facilitated their dialogues with offi cials of provincial government. In order to achieve the afore-mentioned objectives, the project organzed a series of planning meetings (six) last year. It also conducted three need assessments and issue identifi cation meetings. Th ree separate workshops were also conducted. First one was the workshop on Parliamentary Practice, Democratic and Inclusive Law Making Process at Province Level. It was followed by the workshop on Eff ective Service Delivery at Province Level – Federal Perspective; and the workshop on Judiciary Service Delivery: Expectations and Role of Province and Local Government. Subsequently, fi ve review meetings were also conducted during the project period. Th ere were participation from key stakeholders including the Chief Minister, and almost all ministers of Province 2 Government, Chief Secretary, staff s of secretaries, Speaker of the Provincial Assembly, committee chairpersons and members, as well as High Court and District Court judges. Former Deputy Prime Minister of the government