As I sit down to write about my experiences, I cannot decide where I should begin. There are so many events I want to talk about that my outline for this blog itself is becoming a blog.
Looking for a needle in a haystack (the struggle to locate a case precedent)
Previously, I had mentioned that I was buried in stacks of books locating case precedents. To my awe, I found out that these reported cases are just a few of the cases from the Supreme Court which are selected as important cases by a committee (still awestruck as to what really is the committee’s basis for the selection of cases). However, there are many cases which remain unreported and the only way to find them is by networking. Even with networking, it is impossible if one is not aware of the decision number, party name or date decided and yet, here we are just talking about Supreme Court cases. The district court or appellate court’s precedents are near to impossible to locate. More and more, I am starting to believe that my possibility of getting on-board a flight to the moon might be better possibility than locating these cases. I feel like I am Nancy Drew trying to solve a mystery. Now! Really? Does it really have to be that hard to locate cases?
But, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. I found two Supreme Court cases which admitted that the defendants were victims of Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS). Even though the court’s mention of BWS is literally two sentences which are the definition of BWS in English, then the translation in Nepali. So now, I am unsure if it is still considered as two sentences. The defendants were found guilty but received reduced sentences because they were victims of BWS. At least, these cases are some basis for me to further explore so that I can write a suggestive and persuasive memorandum advocating recognition of such defenses.
The value of life according to ……..
The inequality in terms of number of years to be served by defendants of different genders who committed similar crimes behind bars somehow is shocking even though I should have expected this. There is a hierarchy in value of life. The most valuable are men, a little less valuable are women and the least valuable are children. After reading so many precedents, I discovered a common trend. I can almost create a nice, colorful and pretty pie chart to demonstrate the significant difference in value of life amongst the three classes of human race; the only problem is that the numbers are nowhere near being nice, colorful or pretty. Simple illustrations:
1. Murder of MAN: Wife killing husband in a fight (provocation by husband) gets 15 years even though the murder was almost accidental. Here are the fascinating sets of facts. Husband tries to hit wife with a log of wood while quarrelling. Wife snatches the log and hits the husband with the log. Husband sustains a head injury, denies seeking medical treatment and dies after twelve days due to the injury being infected.
2. Murder of WOMAN: Husband killing wife and staging it as a suicide gets 9 years imprisonment.
3. Murder of CHILD: Women killing their new born child (infanticide) get 2 to 5 years imprisonment. For some reason there are so many of those infanticide cases in the Nepal Supreme Court precedent. It almost looks as if these are the only types of cases NSC is interested in deciding.
The need to protect the most vulnerable (Children) is almost nonexistent.
My mid way
My midway to the weeks of my internship is fast approaching. My days here have been somewhat entertaining in ways one cannot even imagine. In the past three weeks, I have managed to slip and fall on a banana peel in the middle of a major street on my way back from work. Too bad I cannot file a slip and fall TORTS claim. No broken bones, just slightly bruised knees and arms but have since healed. Thanks to the scarce supply of water, I managed to get my first food poisoning since my arrival two days ago. Yet, I find these experiences amusing and simply refreshing. They are priceless experiences because they make me realize how much we take our lives for granted back in the United States. It is a win, win situation because I am learning about law and life at the same time.
I am happy to report that my researches are finally coming together and the outline for my memorandum is almost ready.
Follow-up on the District Court
For those of you who wanted to know what happened to those shackled kids charged with possession, use and selling of illegal narcotics, I am happy to report that they were set free on bail. The bail amount was very small. All thanks to the well trained ILF-Nepal defense attorney for he presented a very compelling argument backed with evidence. The case is far from being over but at least, these kids are free from the unruly detention centers.
My ending note
I think I have written enough for two weeks. I will report back in a fortnight, hopefully with a more enlightening, entertaining and engaging blog.
Rina Gurung
Kathmandu, Nepal