The conference was organized by GPK Foundation in Kathmandu on 5-7 May 2011, on “The Emerging New Constitution in Nepal”. The conference convened in the shadow of a looming deadline of 28 May 2011 for the Constituent Assembly to agree on a new draft constitution. The conference was held to discuss several of the most important unresolved issues, including federalism, judicial independence and accountability, forms of governance, and human rights, including women’s rights and freedom of religion and belief.
The conference was opened by Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Sujata Koirala, and the keynote speaker was the Constitutent Assembly Chairperson, Subhash C. Nemwang.Other speakers were Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai, Vice Chairman/UCPN-Maoist,Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, former minister/Leader Nepali congress, Mr. Pradip Gyawali, former minister and leader CPN-UML,Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Susa Young Gates University Professor of Law and Director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Prof. Dr Tahir Mahmood, Founding Chairman, Amity Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Amity University,India,Prof. Dr. Amber Prasad Pant, Dean-Faculty of Law/TU, Mr. Prem Bahadur Khadka, President-Nepal Bar Association. The Conference participants included representatives of all of the major political parties of the country, as well as international experts from the U.S., Australia, India, Spain, and South Africa. International delegates included Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Susa Young Gates University Professor of Law and Director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brett G. Scharffs
Professor of Law and Associate Director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Jane H. Aiken, University of Melbourne Law Professor and Pro-Vice Chancellor Simon Evans, Professor Tahir Mahmood and Nazia Khan from Amity University in India, Professor David Pimental, a Fullbright Scholar at the University of Sarajevo, Professor Jenik Radon from Columbia University, University of Iowa Law School Professor John Reitz, who is currently President of the American Society of Comparative Law, University of Granada Law Professor Augustin Ruiz Robledo, and University of Pretoria and Emory Law School Professor Johan van der Vyver. Ms. Sujata Koirala was the Chairperson of the organizing Committee, and other members of the organizing committee – Nepal were Prof. Dr. Amber Prasad Pant, Dean-Faculty of Law/TU, Prof. Kanak Bikram Thapa, former Dean-Nepal Law Campus/ TU , Mr. Prem Bahadur Khadka, President-Nepal Bar Association, Asst. Professor/Advocate Ms. Laxmi Sharma, LLM (Norway), MRD (TU) and Member Secretary Mr. Rakesh Hamal, Executive Director, GPK Foundation. (Link to: http://iclrs.org