Creating the New Constitution: A Guide for Nepali Citizens

This publication serves as a guide to Nepali Citizens during its then present constitutional process. It is a comprehensive document with 19 chapters covering a variety of issues on the form and substance of the new Nepali Constitution.

The first chapter deals with the form and purposes of a constitution, and touches on issues including, the justifications for modern constitutions, the major issues addressed by modern constitutions, the major obstacles facing modern constitutions.
Chapter 2 looks at the history of constitutions and constitution-making in Nepal.
Chapter 3 looks exclusively at the 1990 Constitution of Nepal and its strengths and weaknesses.
Chapter 4 looks at the interim constitution and the constitution-making process. Specifically, it looks at the constituent assembly, including the elections of its members and its rules and procedures, the final voting system, the role of public participation.
Chapter 5 deals with fundamental constitutional principles and the options for incorporating them into the text of the constitution.
Chapter 6 looks at human rights and their impact on freedom diversity and social justice. It looks specifically at the rights regime in Nepal and Nepal's obligations under international human rights law, among other things.
Chapter 7 addresses diversity, rights and unity issues, and specifically looks at the diversity of Nepal and the various demands of different communities.
Chapter 8 considers the role of women and the constitution.
Chapter 9 discusses issues of self-determination and minority rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples.
Chapter 10 looks at economic and social rights as human rights and contextualizes the issue for the situation in Nepal.
Chapters 11 and 12 look at the electoral systems and political parties, respectively.
Chapters 13 and 14 consider systems of government and federalism, respectively.
Chapters 15, 16, and 17 address the national executive, legislative and judiciary, respectively.
Chapter 18 looks at national security and democracy.
Chapter 19 looks at maintaining the role of the constitution, which includes methods for its effective enforcement and protection from abuse.

Throughout, the guide identifies the experiences of other countries relevant to the process in Nepal. For all of the issues covered, the guide does not provide solutions, instead it focuses on analyzing the relative strengths and weaknesses of a variety of different option. The ultimate goal of the publication is to promote public participation in the constitution-making process.