The Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2063 (2007) - Digital Himalaya

THE INTERIM CONSTITUTION OF NEPAL, 2063 (2007)AS AMENDED BY THE FIRST TO SIXTH AMENDMENTSA SIMPLE GUIDE TO THE INTERIMCONSTITUTION OF NEPAL 2007What is a Constitution? It is a set of rules about how government is formed and howit works and what the rights of the people are. In most countries these rules arefound in one large document. In Nepal now the document is “The Interim Constitutionof Nepal" and it became a law on January 15, 2007.It is the “Interim" Constitution because it is intended to exist only until a newConstitution has been made by the people of Nepal through the ConstituentAssembly. An agreement to have a Constituent Assembly and a new Constitutionwas one of the results of the jana andolan II in 2006. Some changes have alreadybeen made in the Interim Constitution, as we shall see.When the Constituent Assembly prepares a new Constitution it does not have to useany of the rules in the Interim Constitution. But it may decide that some of thoserules are still useful. The purpose of this Simple Guide is to give readers some ideaof what a Constitution can include. As you read, you can think about whether youwould like to see the same rule in the new, final Constitution, or whether you wouldwant to see something different. And some topics that might be in a Constitution arenot included in the Interim Constitution at all.At the beginning is the “Preamble" – this explains why the Constitution has beenprepared, mentioning the people's movement, and the need for democracy and for anew Constitution.The Interim Constitution is then divided into Parts on different topics. The first Partstates some basic things about the Constitution and about Nepal. It says that theConstitution is such an important law that no other laws must contradict it, andeveryone, including the government, must obey it. It says that Nepal is a “secular"state – which means that the state is not attached to one particular religion – unlikethe 1990 Constitution which said that Nepal was a Hindu Kingdom. This does notmean that it is against religion – just that religion is a personal not a governmentmatter. It says that Nepali is the official language, but all other languages spoken inNepal are national languages and they can be used in local offices. Exactly what itmeans to say a language is an “official language" varies from country to country.Chapter I also says what the national flag is, as well as the national animal, flowerand bird.12