Citizen involvement in law making

Parliament (legislature) does the work of drafting laws. Parliament has delegated the power to formulate subsidiary laws (rules, regulations, guidelines, procedures, formation orders, standards, etc.) to the executive. However, it has been found that most of the subsidiary laws issued by the executive went beyond the authority given by the Act. In the report of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, Office of the Auditor General, etc., it is mentioned that the subsidiary law factor is the biggest weapon of corruption. Ministries and agencies issue their own subsidiary laws and most of them do not make public.

We are not sure how many subsidiary laws there are. According to the Delegated Management Committee of the National Assembly, up to 20 percent of the laws issued in Nepal are primary laws. More than 80 percent are subsidiary laws. The conclusion of authorities and other agencies is that the ratio of corruption is also the same. Citizen participation in the formulation of primary laws is common. In principle, Parliament is the place to exercise the rights of sovereign citizens. This theory will gain legitimacy. But it does not assume full ownership of citizens.

The government submits a draft bill to Parliament. It is discussed in the parliament. After the Parliament, the Bills go to the Parliamentary Committee, where they are discussed. Subject matter experts are also consulted if required. However, from my short term experience in Parliament, bills are dominated by middlemen. Especially the leaders of the political parties bring bills under the pressure of middlemen and instruct their MPs to approve them accordingly. Regarding several bills, I have said in the parliament and the committee that the discussion in the parliament and committees is just a drama. Even the bills are not in favor of federalism. Bills are submitted in such a way as to violate even the individual rights of the state and local levels.

If the status of the bill discussed in the parliament is like this, then what will be the status of the subsidiary laws issued by various ministries and agencies behind closed doors? Most of these laws are not in favor of citizens and good governance. In this situation, with the aim of making the process of drafting the bill transparent, ensuring the involvement of the citizens and involving the state and local levels as well, the government has submitted the legislation related bill to the parliament with the joint efforts of the delegated and legislative committee of the National Assembly. This bill has been approved by the National Assembly and is pending in the House of Representatives.

It is believed that since citizens are the main basis of a democratic governance system, laws should also be by the people and for the people. I also learned from my visit to Switzerland that governance can be permanent and sustainable only if citizens and stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process of the government, including the formulation of laws. There is a provision in the constitution of Switzerland that citizens and stakeholders must be consulted when drafting laws and when the government brings new plans. Citizens have the right to overturn a bill passed by the parliament and any project introduced by the government. The parliament and the government there always make decisions considering the citizens as paramount. Citizens have the right to hold a referendum if they are not satisfied with any article of the constitution. Lessons can be learned from Switzerland that the country can make leaps in development only if the citizens fully accept the decisions of the parliament and the government.

According to the online data of the International Monetary Fund, Switzerland's GDP, slightly larger than Nepal's Karnali Province, is 966 billion US dollars. While Nepal has a total of 41 billion US dollars. The per capita income is only 1 thousand 353 US dollars. While Switzerland has one hundred and three thousand dollars. Switzerland has made leaps and bounds in every field, not only in legislation, but also because of citizen participation in any matter. They have written the participation of citizens in law making in the constitution itself. The intention of this bill is that we should at least involve citizens in law making. It is not written in the constitution. With the intention of not writing it in the law, a special initiative has been taken in its construction.

While discussing this bill passed by the National Assembly, the Ministry of the Government of Nepal should identify the bill to be prepared every year and send it to the Ministry of Law within May and the Ministry to the Federal Parliament by the end of June. There is a problem that the relevant ministries do not coordinate well with the Ministry of Law regarding the drafting of bills. Parliament does not even know how many bills are being drafted. This arrangement is expected to solve this problem.

After receiving the approval from the government, the relevant ministry should publish on the website for citizen's opinion suggestions and in the process of drafting the bill, the relevant ministry should participate in the discussion with subject experts and stakeholders. There is also a provision that the relevant ministry should keep the draft of the bill on the webpage for 30 days. This is an important provision made for citizens' suggestions in the draft of the bill itself. It was/is the practice to submit the draft of the Bill overnight, and to keep the draft approved by the Council of Ministers hidden. An example may be taken of the Civil Service Bill. It was discussed that this bill was approved by the cabinet meeting on August 21. But it was registered in the parliament only on February 21 after 6 months. When the education bill was discussed, it was submitted to the parliament without discussion with the stakeholders. Initially, private schools were approved by the Council of Ministers. Later reversed.

There is a provision in the bill that states and local levels should be discussed with the state and local levels when drafting the bill. For this, the concerned ministry should discuss in the subject committee according to Interconnection Act, 2077. There is an arrangement to have concerned ministers of all seven provinces and representatives of the local level in the thematic committee.

This Bill sets out the creation and limits of delegated legislation (subsidiary legislation). It has recorded the aspects to be considered while issuing subsidiary laws. The matter of establishment and operation of the fund, the matter of financial liability from the reserve fund or other government funds, the establishment of an offense or the removal of an ongoing offense, the determination of punishment or related matters, the imposition or collection of taxes, the reduction, increase or cancellation or postponement of the tax rate. The subject is in Section 15.

Constitution of judicial or quasi-judicial body and creation of jurisdiction of such body, setting limits on fundamental rights in any way, determining appointment, retirement or qualification, issuing re-delegated legislation, etc. which are contrary to the principles of natural justice cannot be included in delegated legislation. The arrangement is in it. The basis of what to mention in the rules, regulations, guidelines, procedures and standards is in the bill. There is also a provision in the bill to obtain the consent of the Ministry of Law on the draft of the delegated legislation. Now, without even informing the Ministry of Law, delegated legislation is issued according to their own preferences. This arrangement puts an end to it.

After the delegated legislation is approved, the relevant ministry or agency must send it to the Ministry of Law for registration within seven days from the date of receipt of such legislation from the approving body and publish it on the website of the relevant ministry or agency within seven days from the date of receipt of the registration number. Section 27 of the Bill states that unless it is published in the Nepal Gazette, the delegated legislation will not be legally recognized unless it is published on the website or through other means. This provision was/is necessary to end the trend of surreptitiously issuing delegated legislation.

There is also a provision in the bill that one certified copy of the delegated legislation approved or issued by the Government of Nepal should be kept in the office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and the other copies should be kept in the relevant ministry and the Ministry of Law and the updated details of the delegated legislation should be sent to the Ministry of Law by the relevant ministry every four months. The Ministry of Law should prepare a consolidated and updated statement of delegated legislation and publish it on its website by the end of June. This arrangement will also end the situation of having to go to the ministry for the details of the delegated legislation. There is also a provision in the bill that within 30 days of the issuance of the delegated legislation, the relevant minister should make such legislation available to the committee for the information of the parliamentary committee. The executive is directionless and careless when it comes to law making. This bill was/is necessary to bring the careless executive in the right direction.

It is customary to divide the legislative process into a pre-legislative stage, a legislative stage and a post-legislative stage. The pre-legislative stage is the stage before the submission of the draft bill to the parliament. This bill seeks to regulate the pre-legislative phase. The matter of streamlining the delegated legislative system which is in a state of chaos is being discussed. It has also ensured the participation of citizens in the drafting of primary laws.

The legislative phase begins after the government registers the draft bill in the parliament. This is mentioned in Part 9 of the Constitution. There is a more detailed discussion in the Rules of the House of Representatives and the Rules of the National Assembly. These rules are a very powerful document in relation to the functioning of the legislature and parliament. It cannot be questioned in the court about the actions taken from this. However, any law approved by the Parliament is questioned in the Parliament.

If this bill is also written about managerial rights within the parliament, the parliament will be weak tomorrow. The government dominates. The executive can curtail the rights contained in the Act through ordinances. We have a lot of bitter experience in this regard. Keeping in mind this fact, the bill does not write about the legislative activities within the parliament. There is also some discussion about the post-legislative phase in the bill. This phase is linked to law enforcement and monitoring. Legislation passed by Parliament empowers the government to issue subsidiary laws. This bill will control the subsidiary laws. This bill is in favor of the citizens to create a

method. It helps in improving the good governance of the country. As transparency is maintained in the process of drafting the bill, there is less possibility of manipulation of the bill as desired by the middlemen. It also puts an end to the practice of introducing a bill without informing the state and local levels.