Biography
She earned her Ph.D. from Goa University, India, a bachelor’s degree in law from Nepal Law Campus, Tribhuvan University, and an LL.M. in Human Rights (with distinction) from the University of Hong Kong. She has been teaching at Kathmandu School of Law (KSL) since 2001. Since 2010, she has also served as a visiting faculty member at the University of Sydney and the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHRP), Mahidol University, Thailand, under the Master of Human Rights and Democratization program.
In addition to academia, she has over three decades of legal practice experience as a defense and legal aid lawyer. She has been elected as an executive member of both the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Nepal Bar Association. Her professional contributions include serving as Chief Legal Advisor at the Social Welfare Council and as a Governing Council Member of the National Judicial Academy.
She is also a member of the Legal Education Committee of the Nepal Bar Council, where she has contributed to developing the advocates’ examination curriculum, interviews, and training programs. Currently, she chairs the Human Rights-Based Access to Justice Consortium in Asia (HRBA2J). She has also taught as a visiting professor in the Women’s Case Studies Postgraduate Program at Padma Kanya College, Tribhuvan University, and at Prithvi Narayan Campus, as well as at several universities across Asia, including Ehime University (Japan), Punjab University, Rajasthan University, and FIMT Law College (IP University, India).
She was a panelist at the “Institutionalization of South Asian Human Rights Protection Mechanism: Prospects and Challenges” conference organized by the Global Campus at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in December 2017. She regularly serves as an expert resource person for the Nepal Police Academy and has provided training for the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, Office of the Attorney General, and the Nepal Bar Association, among other national and international institutions.
She has also contributed to the Government of Nepal in preparing initial and periodic combined reports for the CEDAW Committee. Since 2010, she has been a regular residential professor at the South Asian Teaching Session for Humanitarian Law (SATS) and other academic programs jointly organized by the ICRC and KSL. She was the founding president and later served as Director of the Centre for Legal Research and Resource Development (CeLRRd), a pioneering NGO that institutionalized legal aid, anti-human trafficking initiatives, and rights-based criminal justice reforms in Nepal.
Research Projects
-
Action Research on Girls in Especially Difficult Circumstances, Commissioned by UNICEF South Asian Regional Office, Kathmandu 1996
-
Use of Existing Legal Framework in Violence Against Women, Commissioned by UNICEF South Asian Regional Office, 1999
-
Analysis and Reforms of Criminal Justice System in Nepal, Danish Institute for Human Rights and Legal Research and Resource Development, 1999
-
Trial Court System in Nepal commissioned by The Asia Foundation, 2003
-
Legal Aid Manual, DIHR 2006 (1st edition) and 2008 (2nd edition)
-
Regional Study for the Harmonization of Anti-trafficking Legal Framework in India, Bangladesh and Nepal: Developing Rights-based approach for anti-trafficking actions in South Asia, European Commission and International Federation of Terre des homes (TDH), 2007
-
Standard Operating Procedures on Investigation of Human Trafficking Complaints at NHRC Nepal and American Bar Association, Rule of Law initiatives, 2011
-
Human Trafficking Assessment Tools (HTAT) for Nepal, Research Report, American Bar Association, 2012
-
A Study Report on Enforced Disappearance and Truth and Reconciliation, Nepal Bar Association and ICJ, 2015
Publication
Key Publications (Since 2001 only)
Articles/Book Chapters/Review:
-
Laws and Existing Realities of Nepalese Women, Gender and Democracy in Nepal, (Central Department of Home Science, Women’s Case Studies Program, Tribhuvan University in cooperation with Friedrich-Edbert-Stiftung, 2001)
-
Defining Rape as Torture: Contribution of the International Criminal Tribunals, (KSL Journal Vol. 2, 2004)
-
Enforcement of International Humanitarian Laws and Transformation of Conflict at Social Responsive Human Rights Legal Education (A Compendium of Conference Papers, South Asian Law School’s Forum for Human Rights (SALS Forum) /KSL 2004)
-
In Camera Proceedings: Conceptualizing the Rights of Victims of Crimes, (Kathmandu Law Review, Vol. 1, 2007)
-
Gender Dimension of Armed Conflict with special reference to Nepal (NEFAS, 2007)
-
Law and Human Rights Jurisprudence in Asia: Human Rights Jurisprudence in Nepal: Child Soldiers in Armed Conflict, HURIGHTS OSAKA, (co-authors) (Asia-Pacific Human rights Information Center, 2011)
-
Protection of victims of trafficking focusing Nepal, Changing Face of Asia, (HRBA2J, Asian Consortium 2012)
-
Breaking the Generation Theory of Human Rights, (KSLR, Human Rights and Democratization Special Issue, Vol.3, 2013)
-
Commentary on the Geneva Convention on the Amelioration of The Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field (Peer reviewed, ICRC, Geneva, 2016)
-
Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Nepal: Scope and Challenges of the Constitution of Nepal 2015, (ESDR Resource Book, 2017)
-
Shifting Paradigm of Internalization of International Law: Growing Jurisprudence of Human Rights in Nepal (KSLR, Vol. 7. 2018)
-
QUESTING FOR JUSTICE, NOT CRYING: Possible Remedies for Gurkhas under International Human Rights System (co-author) (Research paper presented at A two-day national conference on ‘Human Rights Movement for Equality and Dignity of Ex-British Gurkhas held on Nov. 5-6, 2019
-
Feature Article: A Human Rights Approach to First Call for Children: Mapping the Perils and Promises in South Asia (KSLR, 2023)
Books
(Since 2001 only)
-
Situation of Gender Justice in Nepal and Application of International Human Rights Instruments (Hong Kong, University, 2001)
-
Book: Gender and Laws: Nepalese Perspective (co-author) (KSL, 2002)
-
International Humanitarian Law Guide – Case book (Co-author) 2021
Research Interest/Research Area
-
Human Rights (mainly in the areas of economic, social and cultural rights, women’s human rights and gender justice and human trafficking)
-
Humanitarian Law
-
Pro-bono/Legal Aid
-
Trial Advocacy and Clinical Legal Education
