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2007 Assessment

Nepal: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Nepal: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: National Ombudsman
Indicators		Score
52	In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?	100
53	Is the national ombudsman effective?	66
54	Can citizens access the reports of the ombudsman?	67

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?

52: In law, is there a national ombudsman, public protector or equivalent agency (or collection of agencies) covering the entire public sector?

Score:

YES

Comments: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) investigates corrupt behaviors and documents abuses of authority. However, the CIAA is a constitutional body which performs the duty of an ombudsman also, but it is not purely an "ombudsman". It is basically an investigating and prosecuting agency.

References: The Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007, Article 119; The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Act 1991

Is the national ombudsman effective?

53a: In law, the ombudsman is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments: Because all office-bearers are appointed under the recommendation of a constitutional council, Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is generally protected from political interference. It is a constitutional body, therefore it acts as an autonomous organization.

References: The Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007, Article 119

53b: In practice, the ombudsman is protected from political interference.

Score:

100

Comments: Traditionally, there was no system of hearing and confirmation process. Political influence over the appointment was bound to exist. However, in the changed political and legal context, it is mandatory for all constitutional posts to be confirmed by the Parliamentary Special Committee on Hearing. This kind of parliamentary scrutiny reduces the chance of political interference because the parliamentary committee is comprised of mostly opposition party members. However, so far as the current transition in Nepal is concerned, there is virtually no opposition in the picture, as the eight-party coalition government is ruling the country now.

References: Legislative-Parliament Rules 2007

Peer Review Comments: eight parties have become seven-party coalition government after Nepali Congress and Nepali Congress (Democratic) were united.

Peer Review Comments: Political interference with the ombudsman depends on the nature of the individual official -- i.e., the chief commissioner and the commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority -- in the case of a Third World country like Nepal.

53c: In practice, the head of the ombudsman agency/entity is protected from removal without relevant justification.

Score:

100

Comments: The chief commissioner can be removed only through the impeachment process in the Parliament.

References: The Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007, Articles 119 (3) (B) and 105 (2); www.sambidhan.org

53d: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments: Because it is centralized, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has difficulty in handling cases of corruption or abuse of authority that are reported at the local level. Besides, the staff are taken from the government also, hence they may have different backgrounds. Therefore not all of them may be competent enough to discharge the duties the CIAA has to perform.

References: www.akhtiyar.org.np

Peer Review Comments: Some staff are taken from the government and they may not be full time ones.

53e: In practice, agency appointments support the independence of the ombudsman agency (or agencies).

Score:

100

Comments: The chief commissioner and other commissioners are appointed per the recommendation of the Constitutional Council, hence the appointments are considered to be supportive of functional independence. In addition to this, these office-bearers now have to undergo a mandatory parliamentary hearing process for the confirmation. It therefore requires a '.75' rating here, especially in the changed political context in Nepal. However, the present irony is that the eight-party government has not yet appointed the chief commissioner in the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) despite the fact that the post became vacant a long time ago. They are yet to find a suitable 'consensus' candidate acceptable to all. If this trend of current Nepalese politics is taken into account, one has to consider scoring '.25' here instead of '.75' above.

References: The Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007; Legislative-Parliament Rules 2007

53f: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) receives regular funding.

Score:

100

Comments: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) generally receives regular funding (on an annual basis) from the government. However, the government budget is largely dependent on foreign aid that may not be consistent. Besides, corruption control is not the state's prioritized agenda in the changed political context. This might be perhaps the reason why the CIAA has lost its momentum now. I think that leadership is another crucial factor to keep an institution intact and lively. The country has recently witnessed slackness in the vigilance of the anti-graft body, especially in the absence of a leader.

References: News reports

Peer Review Comments: The officials at the CIAA keep on complaining that they don't receive enough funding from the government.

53g: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) makes publicly available reports.

Score:

100

Comments: Reports are published and posted online. They are easily available to the urban population. However, people living in remote places may not have access to them.

References: CIAA Web site: www.akhtiyar.org.np

Peer Review Comments: The CIAA makes public the reports but the government mechanism is weak to reach them out to the people in remote areas.

Peer Review Comments: Reports are not only published and posted online. The State Affairs Committee of Parliament conducts a series of discussions on the reports of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. Meetings of the parliamentary committee are open to the media. Therefore, the media provides sufficient coverage on this corruption matter. So I think that the reports of the CIAA are publicly available.

53h: In practice, when necessary, the national ombudsman (or equivalent agency or agencies) initiates investigations.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency aggressively starts investigations -- or participates fully with cooperating agencies\' investigations -- into judicial misconduct. The agency is fair in its application of this power. <p>50 Score Criteria: The agency will start or cooperate in investigations, but often relies on external pressure to set priorities, or has limited effectiveness when investigating. The agency, though limited in effectiveness, is still fair in its application of power. <p>0 Score Criteria: The agency rarely investigates on its own or cooperates in other agencies\' investigations, or the agency is partisan in its application of this power.$

Comments: The pace of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is slowed down for a number of reasons, including the state's indifference towards the anti-corruption drive.

References: News reports

Peer Review Comments: The CIAA initiates investigations but lack of political will has obstructed its performance.

53i: In practice, when necessary, the national ombudsman (or equivalent agency or agencies) imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has no authority to impose penalties, except in very few cases, including the refusal to submit asset disclosures. The corruption cases are heard in the Special Court. The CIAA is only an investigating and prosecuting agency.

References: CIAA Act 1991, various Sections, including section 31(A) (2)

53j: In practice, the government acts on the findings of the ombudsman agency (or agencies).

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Ombudsman\'s reports are taken seriously, with negative findings drawing prompt corrective action. <p>50 Score Criteria: In most cases, ombudsman\'s reports are acted on, though some exceptions may occur for politicalally sensitive issues, or particularly resistant agencies. <p>0 Score Criteria: Ombudsman reports are often ignored, or given superficial attention. Ombudsman reports do not lead to policy changes.$

Comments:

References: The report of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) may be ignored at times as there is no stringent follow-up mechanism.

Peer Review Comments: The lack of political will has obstructed the CIAA's performance. In many cases, the government may not act on the CIAA's findings.

Peer Review Comments: Several recommendations of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority may be ignored. The CIAA has complained about this misbehavior of the executive in every yearly report for 15 years.

53k: In practice, the ombudsman agency (or agencies) acts on citizen complaints within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Because the complaints are dealt with secretly, not all the complaints lodged may be acknowledged. It may take quite some time to resolve the cases. In addition, there are other constraints, such as geography and resources.

References: Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Act; Working Procedure

Can citizens access the reports of the ombudsman?

54a: In law, citizens can access reports of the ombudsman(s).

Score:

YES

Comments: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is required to submit its annual report to the prime minister (The current PM of Nepal also performs the duty of the head of state), and it is the duty of the prime minister to produce it before the Legislative-Parliament.

References: The Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007, Article 121

54b: In practice, citizens can access the reports of the ombudsman(s) within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Citizens can access the published reports. However, the majority of people living in remote areas do not have timely access to them. It may take weeks for some to access them, because Internet is easily accessible only in the capital and other urban areas.

References: www.akhtiyar.org.np

Peer Review Comments: The majority of the population living in villages is uneducated, so they have no concerns about such issues.

54c: In practice, citizens can access the reports of the ombudsman(s) at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: Citizens can access the reports at a reasonable cost. However, it may be difficult to obtain the reports at times, because of a lack of adequate distribution. Citizens must go in person to collect the reports, which may involve the costs of travel, food and other logistics.

References: Self-observation

Peer Review Comments: In practice more than 90 percent of the people can't understand such issues.