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

THE INTERIM CONSTITUTION OF NEPAL, 2063 (2007)AS AMENDED BY THE FIRST TO SIXTH AMENDMENTSPart 2 is about Citizenship. A citizen is a person who can say “I am a Nepalese".Such a person can get a passport of the country. In many countries citizens are theonly people who can vote in elections. They have special rights as citizens, and alsospecial responsibilities. Chapter 2 says that any person whose father or mother isNepalese is Nepalese, and that other people can become Nepalese (including thewife of a Nepalese man). No person who is a Nepalese citizen can at the same timebe a citizen of another country (not all countries have a rule like this).Part 3 is a very important chapter. It is about human rights. These are the rightswhich we all have because we are human. But some of the rights in the InterimConstitution apply only to citizens; this is all right for some rights, but in manyconstitutions most rights are for all people within the country – because they are allhuman. Human rights in a constitution are political – they indicate to the governmentwhat would be the right behaviour – but they are also legal rights. A person who hassuffered because the government has violated the rights should have a legal claimfor compensation. Sometimes it is more effective to complain to a body like theHuman Rights Commission though.So what are the rights recognised in the Interim Constitution? They are the right to adignified life, to liberty, freedom of speech, freedom to join with others in gatheringsor associations. Everyone is equal, and there must be no discrimination just becausea person is of a certain sex, or ethnic group or caste, or speaks a certain language orbelieves in a certain religion. Discriminating when providing goods, services orfacilities against someone because of their race or because they are “untouchable"must be something for which a person can be punished under the law. There is aright to a clean environment and a right to basic health care. There is a right to freeprimary and secondary education. Certain rights are guaranteed for children andfor women. There are rights to property, and rights to social security in somesituations. And there is a right to practise one's religion – but this right only appliesto the religion into which a person was born. There are rights to a fair trial for peopleaccused of a crime, and a right not to be tortured. There is a right to information, aright to privacy, and right not to be exploited and a right to fair labour conditions.Before some of these rights can actually be useful a law must be passed. This is nota complete list of the rights in the Constitution. And some of the rights are limited bythe Constitution – because this may be necessary for the benefit of everyone in somecircumstances.14