NEPALESE

LEGAL
PROVISION
Dr. Abhishek Karn
Asst.Professor
Dept. of Forensic Medicine
& Toxicology

Ignorance of the law excuses no man.

Not that all men know the law, but
because it is an excuse every man
can plead, and no one can refute
him

 FORENSIC
MEDICINE,thesciencethat deals with
the application of medical knowledge
to legal questions.
It deals with crime against a person in
which medical examination &
documentation is required as evidence.
Also known as LEGAL MEDICINE.

CIVIL & CRIMINAL LAW

INQUEST
COURTS OF LAW
OFFENCE & PUNISHMENTS
SUMMON
MEDICAL EVIDENCE
WITNESS
RECORD OF EVIDENCE

All legal cases can be broadly classified

into:
1.Civil (DEWANI)
2.Criminal (PHAUJDARI)
In Nepal, each of this is again divided
into:
1.Pertaining to Country
(SARKARWADI)
2.Pertaining to People (DUNIYAWADI)

CIVIL LAW
Deals with disputes between two
individuals/parties.
Eg. land disputes, trust (guthi),
adoption etc.
Party bringing the action in civil
cases: PLANTIFF
Accused in both civil & criminal
cases: DEFENDENT

CRIMINAL LAW
Deals with offences which are considered
to be against the public interest.
Eg. Offences against the person,
property, public safety, security of the
state.
The state is the party represented by the
public prosecutor (in sarkarwadi
phaujdari mudda) & the accused is the
other party.

STANDARD OF PROOF:
1.CIVIL CASE: court should be certain
of more than 50% of the defendants
culpability.
2.CRIMINAL CASE: the court should be
convinced beyond reasonable
doubt

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INQUEST

Legal/ judicial Inquiry into the cause of

death.
Conducted in cases of :-suicide
-murder
-killing by animal, machinery
-accidents
-suspicious (unnatural) death
-death due to anesthesia/operation/torture

Types of Inquest:
1. Police inquest
2. Magistrate inquest
3. Coroners inquest
4. Medical examiner system

Police Inquest
Commonest inquest. (Only inquest in
Nepal)
It is the police who gets the report of any
death first, police then goes to the scene
of death & starts investigation (INQUEST/
MUCHULKA)
Conducted by investigating officer who
should be at least of the level of subinspector.
Inquest report is prepared in presence of
two/more respectable persons.

Magistrate Inquest
Conducted by district magistrate.
In cases of:
-death in police custody, prison.
-death due to police firing.
-death in psychiatry hospitals.
-dowry deaths.
-exhumation.

Coroners Inquest
Conducted in U.K., some states of
U.S.A & in some other countries.
Doctor is summoned to his court to
give evidence at the inquest.
Coroners court is the court of inquiry &
accused need not be present.

Medical Examiners System

Conducted in most of the states of U.S.A.
A medical practitioner known as Medical
Examiner is appointed to perform the
functions of a Coroner.
Doctor visits the scene of crime &
conducts the inquest, therefore superior
to Coroners & Police Inquest.
Medical Examiner doesnt have any
judicial function nor can he/she order the
arrest of any person.

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COURTS OF LAW

Three levels of court in Nepal:

1.District court: -in each district (75 in
no.)
-1st court in all cases
(civil/criminal)
2.Appealate Court: -presently 16 in no.
-appeal cases from district
courts

3. Supreme Court:
-highest judicial tribunal.
-except Nepal Army
Court, all other Courts are under it.
-one chief justice & maximum of
14 other permanent judges are
present.
Special court

OFFENCE
Any act or omission made punishable by the
law.
COGNISABLE OFFENCE: an offence for which a
police officer may arrest the offender without
a warrant. Eg. Rape, grievous hurt, murder,
robbery, death due to rash/negligent act,
ragging.
NON-COGNISABLE OFFENCE: an offence for
which a police officer may not arrest the
offender without a warrant.

PUNISHMENTS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Capital punishment (death)

Imprisonment for life
Rigorous/ Simple Imprisonment
Forfeiture of property
Fine

SUMMON / SUBPOENA
A document compelling the
attendance of a witness in a court of
law under penalty, on a particular day,
time & place for the purpose of giving
evidence.
Priority:
Criminal Court > Civil Court
Higher Court > Lower Court
Summon 1st received > 2nd received

CONDUCT MONEY
Fee offered / paid to the witness in civil
cases, at the time of serving the
summons to meet the expenses for
attending the court.
Amount to be paid is determined by Judge.
In criminal cases, no fee is paid. The
witness must attend & give evidence in
the court because of the interest of the
state in securing justice.

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EVIDENCE

It means & includes:

a. all the statements which the
court permits / requires to be made
before it by witness in relation to
matter of facts under inquiry.
b. all documents produced for
inspection of the court.

 Evidence of eye-witness is POSITIVE.

Evidence of doctor/expert is an
opinion which is corroborative.

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Types of Evidence:

1. Oral : (more important than

documentary as cross examination is
possible)
(i) Direct
(ii) Hearsay/Indirect
(iii) Circumstantial

2. Documentary
(i) Medical certificate ill health, death,
vaccination, Birth certificate
(ii)Medicolegal-report Injury report, PM.
report, Report of Sexual offences,
Pregnancy, Abortion
(iii)Dying Declaration and Deposition.
(iv)Miscellaneous Expert opinion from
books
Accepted by the court only on oral testimony
by the person concerned (exception:-iii, iv)

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Dying declaration:

Written/oral statement of a person, who is

dying as a result of some unlawful act,
relating to the material facts of cause of his
death or bearing on the circumstances.
Before recording the statement, doctor
should certify that the person is conscious &
his mental faculties are normal COMPOS
MENTIS
No leading questions & no oath as dying
person tells truth.

Dying deposition:
Statement of a person under oath,
recorded by the magistrate in the
presence of the accused/his lawyer
who is allowed to cross-examine the
witness.

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WITNESS

A person who gives sworn testimony

in court of law.
All persons are competent to testify
unless they are prevented from
understanding the questions put to
them or they cant give rational
answers to those question due to
tender years, extreme ages or d/s.

 Types:
1.Common Witness
2.Expert Witness

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Types of Witness

1.Common witness (witness of fact

occurrence) witness who gives evidence about
the facts observed or perceived by him, he
must show that he was capable of perceiving
the facts by one of his own senses.
2.Expert witness : is a person who has been
trained or is skilled in technical or scientific
subjects and capable of drawing opinions and
conclusions from the facts observed by himself
or noticed by others e.g. doctor, firearm
expert, finger print expert, hand writing expert.

 Hostile Witness : One who is

supposed to have some interest or
motive for concealing part of the
truth or for giving completely false
evidence.

 Doctor can be both a common and

expert witness.
PERJURY:
giving willful false evidence while
under oath.
Witness is liable to be prosecuted for
perjury.