ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the functioning of the criminal justice system on a broad level, identifies particularly significant problems. It discusses solutions to these problems. Some of these reforms require changes in the letter of the law or the passage of new laws, while others recommend increased budgetary allocations or the creation of new governmental institutions. The police are under the general supervision and control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. District Government Attorneys are responsible for the prosecution of standard criminal cases throughout Nepal. Prisons in Nepal, on the whole, are overcrowded, understaffed, and housed in decrepit buildings. Prior to the passage of the State Cases Act of 1964, investigation of criminal cases was the province of the judiciary. A criminal investigation is usually triggered by the filing of a First Information Report. Another provision of the Legal Aid Act also functions to prevent many detainees from receiving the representation they are guaranteed by the constitution.
