The provenance of this imbalance in attention to the rule of law and access to justice is neither mysterious
nor casual. Neglect of the judiciary is quite usual in Nepal. While historically this lack of attention for the
judiciary is symptomatic of the general preference to support institutions of representation as against
support for institutions of restraint in transitional democracies, the undermining and sidelining over
many years of Nepal’s judiciary is part of a sordid story of collusion by political parties across the
spectrum to weaken, co-opt, and subordinate state institutions that are meant t
