Nepal - June 2023

Nepal’s Supreme Court (SC) issued a groundbreaking interim order on 28 June instructing the government to allow the registration of same-sex marriages, setting up a temporary registry for applicant couples pending a final verdict. It remains unclear when the parliament will officially pass a marriage equality law, however, rights activists have hailed the SC order as a huge step forward toward achieving marriage equality, with hopes that legislation will follow. Conversely, reports of District Courts finding legal ways to not comply with the order have emerged. Human rights experts have urged parliament to act quickly on amending the law and providing further guidance.

Sources: The Kathmandu Post, Human Rights Watch, The Diplomat, The Himalayan Times

Nepal’s Supreme Court (SC) lifted a hurdle for the Citizenship Amendment Bill on 22 June, discontinuing a previous short-term interim order issued on 4 June against its enforcement. The short-term order followed President Ram Chandra Poudel’s endorsement of the bill on 31 May, a bill that had been rejected by his predecessor after years of controversial debate. While the bill is considered a step in the right direction for potentially providing citizenship and voting rights to hundreds of thousands of stateless and foreign Nepalis (such as children with unknown parentages), some political analysts and activists have criticized gender-biased provisions and procedural issues surrounding its enaction. Legal experts have questioned whether President Ram was within his constitutional rights to approve a bill agreed upon by the previous lapsed parliament.

Sources: The Kathmandu Post, Observer Research Foundation, Nepali Times, UNHCR