Judgement Execution_Article

Justice is ensured only after the proper execution and implementation of the verdict. The court’s ability to ensure rightful and effective delivery of justice highly depends upon the successful execution of the judgement. In the Nepalese Legal system execution and enforcement of court’s decisions are distinct upon the Civil Law, Criminal Law and Constitutional Law (Writ Petition) domains. Each of these domains are regulated under a distinct statutory framework. 

This article deals with the procedural regulations to enforce a judicial decision under the Nepalese Law and its purview of relevant statutes, precedents and codes considering Civil Law, Criminal Law and Constitutional Law aspect.

1. Enforcement of Decision: A Civil Law Guide 

Enforcement of cases concerning Civil Law is governed by the Civil Procedural Code 2074 (CPC). The CPC serves as the fundamental and primary guideline with regards to enforcing the decisions concerning the civil law aspect. Below is the procedural mechanism followed in the legal arena:

1. District Court’s role Section 230: Irrespective of the level of court making the final decisions, it falls upon the responsibility of the district court where the plaint was initially/originally  heard to execute the judgment.  (मुलुकी देवानी कार्यविधि संहिता, २०७४ | Nepal Law Commission.)  
2. Enforcement Procedure: In accordance with the Section 238 of the CPC, before issuing an order for the execution of the decision the court requires the decree holder to deposit:

• 3% of the claimed amount of the property to be enforced 
• A sum of thousand rupees if the claim amount is not specified. 

            Upon the submission of the amount the court notifies both parties of the case concerning the date and location for execution of the judgement. (मुलुकी देवानी कार्यविधि संहिता, २०७४ | Nepal Law Commission,)

1. The matters relating to registration, de-registration or transmissions of matters is concerned with the Section 239 of the CPC; the court for the purpose of the execution of the judgement sends a precept to the concerned office and also asks the party to appear in that office within 21 days. If the party appears before the office within the given time frame the judgement would be executed within three days. 

1. For the judgments relating to Preemption; any party recognized by the court as the party to receive the preemption shall appear before the court to obtain the preemption of the property or receive the deposited amount. The court shall then send the receiver to the concerned office and the concerned office shall deliver the receivable to the preemptee within seven days. 

1. Partition is one of the most recurring cases especially in the Nepalese context. The court provisions for the execution of Partition in the Section 241 of the CPC where upon receiving the judgement the concerned court brings into its effect the judgement within six months. If the partition concerns more than one coparcener and one of the co-parceners is absent, the court serves a fifteen days notice for such coparcener to arrive. 

Upon the arrival of an absent co-parcener the partition takes place in his/her presence. Else, the partition takes place without the co-parcener being present. 

1. Recovery of Claimed Amount: In case a judgement holder wishes to recover the claimed amount, the debtor recognized by the court shall be given a time of Fifty days to pay the claimed amount by cash, goods or cheques. If the debtor is not present in the court or fails to pay the amount, the judgement holder can also make a petition to the court for the recovery of the claimed amount from debtor’s property as per Section 242 of the CPC. 

Therefore, the Civil Procedural Code can be regarded as the soul of justice execution. CPC mandates the procedure which ought to be followed during the justice execution and it also categorises different procedures to deal with a wide range of cases concerning civil matters. 

2. Criminal Case: Decision Execution Guide

The execution of judgement concerning Criminal Cases is primarily guided by the Muluki Criminal Procedural Code 2017 (MCPC). Chapter 15 of the MCPC governs the provisions regulating the execution of decisions concerning Criminal Law 

Similar to that of civil law case’s justice execution, the District Court where the charge where the charge sheet or plaint was initially filed is vested with the prime responsibility of judgement execution (The National Criminal Procedure (Code) Act, 2017, 2017) in accordance with the Section 152 of the MCPC. Any court which delivers a judgement in any case shall establish a record of the judgement and send a copy of the judgement to the concerned District Court. 

Unlike in the cases of normal nature where execution of judgement takes place only after the judgement is delivered by the highest appellate court, in criminal cases of grievous nature judgement are executed from the court of first instance itself (Aryal, 2020, 432). 

Upon receiving the judgement if the person sentenced to imprisonment is present in the court then the court shall forward the person directly to the prison and if the person is not present in the court or nor is in the custody then the Court shall write to the concerned police office to make an arrest of such person (फैसला कार्यन्वयन निर्देशिका, २०७५,). The court also has authority to attach and freeze property of such a person against whom a warrant has been issued and has not been arrested. If the person does not get arrested even until six months from the date of issue of warrant then the amount of fine or compensation payable can be claimed from the property attached or also by auctioning it. 

Execution of Criminal Cases also takes into its accounts the principle of Restorative Justice as in accordance with the Section 155 in view of the age of the offender if the offender if convicted in first instance or the offense is punishable by a sentence of imprisonment for a term of one year or less and the court does not consider it appropriate to confine the person in the prison, the offender can be forfeited from the liability of imprisonment if he or she makes payment money in lieu along with a deed stating for his/her good conduct. 

Therefore, MCPC Chapter – 15 ensures for prompt and systematic execution of judgement of the cases. Unlike in the civil cases where parties to the case have to concern themselves with the court time and again, it falls upon the responsibility of the government and its agents to deal with the procedural aspect for judgement execution. It can also be witnessed that judgement and execution of criminal cases are both punitive and restorative at the same time. 

3. Execution of Constitutional Judgements: Writ Implementation

The Constitution of Nepal 2072 (2015) which acts as the soul and spirit of the country ensures fundamental rights to all the citizens of the country. Moreover, it also ensures the protection and provides a framework for the enforcement of these fundamental rights. 

In particular, the Article 133 and Article 144 provisions for Writ Petition whose prime function is to ensure remedies for persons whose fundamental rights are encroached (The Constitution of Nepal,). These articles provisions for the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the High Court respectively to issue appropriate orders and writs concerning: 

1. Habeas Corpus : Release of Unlawful detention,
2. Mandamus : Directing public authority to perform its legal duty,
3. Certiorari : Quashing illegal administrative or judicial decisions,
4. Prohibition : Restraining unlawful actions of government officials,
5. Quo Warranto: Challenging the legality of public office occupation, 

On the contrary, the District Court is also vested with the authority to dispense petitions of Habeas Corpus only as per the Article 151 of the constitution. 

The constitution vests the authority upon all these courts to use their extraordinary power in order to provide appropriate remedies and enforce such rights of the people which have been encroached.

The judgement of these cases are of immediate enforceability without requiring any other actions. Likewise, under the Article 158 (2) the is vested with the power to institute cases on behalf of these judicial bodies. Article 128 also establishes the Supreme Court as the court of record and all other courts and judicial bodies fall under its purview. Similarly, the Supreme Court also has the power to inspect, supervise and give necessary directives to all and any subordinate body so as to ensure the enforceability of the cases tried by it. 

Finally, the constitution explicitly mentioned that all must abide by the interpretation of the constitution, law or any legal principle laid down by the Supreme Court which ensures that justice dispensed under the extraordinary jurisdiction is followed by all the subordinate body to the fullest extent possible and if any subordinate is found not to be following the judgement then the Supreme Court has the authority to initiate proceedings and impose punishment for contempt of exempting from justice execution. 

The soul of justice lies upon its execution and implementation. The Nepalese Legal System has ensured provisions which will lead to successful execution of the judgements through different acts and statutes as mentioned in the above premises. The Civil Procedural Code deals with Civil matters, Muluki Criminal Procedural Code deals with Criminal matters and the Constitution itself ensures the execution of fundamental rights. These three different legal statutes along with other supplementing statutes such as the District Court Rule, Justice Execution Directive etc ensures that the rights of the citizens are not just limited to legal texts but ensured and enforced. 

Justice is ensured upon its execution and the Nepalese Legal System has a balanced approach to ensure that justice is executed and the constitution is upheld with respect to the nature of the case. 

References

फैसला कार्यन्वयन निर्देशिका, २०७५. (n.d.). सर्वोच्च अदालत नेपाल. Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://supremecourt.gov.np/web/courtrules

Aryal, R. P. (2020). Principles and Practices of Procedural Law. Lex and Juris Publication. —

The Constitution of Nepal. (n.d.). THE CONSTITUTION OF NEPAL. Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://ag.gov.np/files/Constitution-of-Nepal_2072_Eng_www.moljpa.gov_.npDate-72_11_16.pdf

The National Criminal Procedure (Code) Act, 2017. (2017, October 16). BWC National Implementation Measures Database. Retrieved November 10, 2025, from https://bwcimplementation.org/sites/default/files/resource/NP_Criminal%20Procedure%20Code_EN.pdf

मुलुकी देवानी कार्यविधि संहिता, २०७४ | Nepal Law Commission. (n.d.). नेपाल कानून आयोग. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://lawcommission.gov.np/content/13456/civil-code-procedure-2074/