Nepal draft law eyes home detention, electronic monitoring for convicts

Nepal is considering a significant shift in its penal system with a draft law that could allow courts to replace prison sentences with home detention under electronic monitoring. The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs has prepared a bill to amend the existing criminal sentencing and execution law, introducing provisions for electronic surveillance, home-based imprisonment, and broader parole and probation options.

Under the proposed Section 28(a) of the Criminal Offences (Sentencing and Execution) Act, 2017, judges could order convicts to serve their terms under electronic surveillance. The financial burden of the monitoring device would fall on the convict, with failure to pay leading to imprisonment. Courts would assess the offense's severity, along with the convict's age, health, and conduct, before granting such an order. Violating the conditions would result in an additional year in prison.

The draft also includes measures for pre-trial detention, allowing judges to restrict an accused person's movement instead of remanding them to custody, potentially with electronic monitoring. Parole provisions are being expanded to include prisoners aged 75 and above, or those with terminal illnesses or severe physical disabilities, who could be released on parole with location restrictions after serving three years, pending approval from the Probation and Parole Board.

Furthermore, the bill proposes lowering the eligibility threshold for parole from two-thirds of a sentence to 60 percent. Life-term prisoners might become eligible for parole after 30 years of satisfactory behavior. Additionally, prisoners sentenced to up to three years could be assigned to community service instead of incarceration if the court deems it unnecessary, provided the convict consents. Currently, community service is an option only for sentences up to six months. The draft also allows judges to transfer well-behaved prisoners who have completed 60 percent of their sentences to open prisons.