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48_Durga Karki
Research report

Concurrency in Nepali Federal System : Tool for Flexibility or Recentralization?

BFD

  • Fribourg : IFF, 2025
Concurrency
Centralization
Federalization
Nepali federal system
Exclusive powers
Distribution of powers
English In 2015, Nepal adopted a federal system of governance abandoning the previous centralized, unitary, feudal and autocratic system to address systemic exclusion and discrimination. The Constitution of Nepal devolved state power amongst three spheres of government. Entrenched into five separate lists, these powers are both exclusive and concurrent. However, many of the powers that look exclusive at the onset are essentially concurrent due to the widespread duplication of subject areas within and across these lists. Against this backdrop, I argue that the pervasiveness of concurrency in Nepal’s distribution of powers makes it constitutionally possible for the federal government to reinforce and expand its powers. Even though a holistic reading of the constitution and subsequent legal instruments suggests that Nepal’s concurrent powers are shared and/or complementary as opposed to pure or sweeping powers, there is a lack of clarity and consistency around its meaning. The ambiguity housed by concurrency has not only served the interests of the centre, but also impeded the effective implementation of federalism in Nepal.
Collections
Faculty
Faculté de droit
Department
Institut du Fédéralisme
Language
  • English
Classification
Law, jurisprudence
Series statement
  • IFF Working Paper Online ; 48
License
CC BY
Open access status
diamond
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/331772
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