Kathmandu, May 8: A workshop organised under the joint auspices of the Rural Development Foundation and the Judicial Council Secretariat recently recommended to implement measures for competence development of both judges and lawyers to make justice fair, reliable and accessible to the people.

The workshop participated in by a galaxy of judges and lawyers emphasised on making case hearing and pleading more focused on the fact in issue so that cases were disposed speedily. Fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal should be protected by judiciary. The workshop concluded that judges should grant for extension of custody of an accused only if there were sufficient grounds to require investigation to determine whether the crime was committed.

The workshop was opened by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Keshab Prasad Upadhyaya, and senior judges of the apex court had presented theme papers on different aspects of the administration of justice. Spokesperson of the Supreme Court Kashi Raj Dahal and President of the Rural Development Foundation Krishna Man Pradhan had pledged cooperation in taking initiatives towards strengthening capacity of judiciary especially for providing speedier justice to the people.

Rural Development Foundation has published the workshop proceedings and findings compiling together into a report. Writing foreword to the Report Chief Justice Upadhyaya hails the cooperation extended by the Foundation to the Judicial Council Secretariat in organising the workshop. President of the Rural Development Foundation Krishna Man Pradhan promises to make the Report available to all the judges at different levels of court so as to disseminate the workshop findings to assist the process of administration of justice.