Supreme Court reviews senior advocate criteria, plans performance-only test and power to revoke
A committee led by Justice Sharanga Subedi says past selections were disorderly. It is considering making professional performance the sole criterion and allowing the title to be withdrawn for misconduct.
Nepal’s Supreme Court has formed a committee to review the criteria for conferring the title of senior advocate, the honour reserved for experienced lawyers. Kantipur reported that the committee was formed under the leadership of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma; The Kathmandu Post reported that it was formed by the full court.
Justice Sharanga Subedi is the coordinator, Justices Nripadhwaj Niraula and Meghraj Pokharel are members, and Chief Registrar Bimal Poudel is member-secretary. According to Kantipur, the committee is to study the title and prepare a roster. “When we studied and reviewed the past, we found the selection of senior advocates very disorderly,” Subedi said.
What is changing
- Making a lawyer’s professional performance the only basis for the title in future.
- Drawing up criteria after visiting places where High Courts sit and consulting stakeholders.
- Allowing the title to be withdrawn or suspended if the holder engages in malpractice or acts against the code of conduct or the law — a provision that did not exist before.
Kantipur also reported a draft of a new act that would require applicants to have paid tax, renewed their licence and submitted a professional tax certificate, with renewal every five years. That law is still at the drafting stage. Until a new law is in place, the title will be conferred under the existing Act and criteria.
What the law says now
Under the Nepal Bar Council Act, 2050 (1993), the power to confer the title lies with the Supreme Court; past titles have been granted by the full court. Section 21 allows the title to be given, as an honour and with their consent, to an advocate who has practised for at least 15 years in the Supreme Court or an appellate court and, as Kantipur summarised it, has upheld the dignity of the profession and assisted the courts and society. The Supreme Court issued the Criteria for Conferring the Title of Senior Advocate, 2076 on 27 Magh 2076 BS (February 2020).
Past controversies
According to Bar Council data, 740 people hold the title, out of 23,752 licensed advocates. The largest single batch, 272 lawyers, was conferred on 11 August 2017 (27 Saun 2074 BS) under Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli on the basis of licence numbers. Later batches included 133 lawyers in July 2022 (29 Asar 2079 BS) and 159 in September 2024 (10 Asoj 2081 BS).
The process has long been criticised: titles were said to be given on the basis of licence numbers, access and connections, active advocates were left out, and some no longer in practice were included. “The title of senior advocate should not be awarded on the basis of political reasons, access and connections,” said Nepal Bar Association president Bijay Prasad Mishra. Senior Advocate Chandra Kanta Gyawali noted that the title matters because the Constitution itself recognises it.
The Nepal Bar Association has separately formed a committee on recent judiciary controversies; see our report. For how the Bar Council regulates lawyers, see our explainer.
What happens next
The date the committee was formed and its deadline for reporting have not been made public. Any new criteria will take effect only after the Supreme Court adopts them.
Sources
Kantipur also listed a batch of 72 conferred on 16 Falgun 2079 BS; The Kathmandu Post attributes a batch of 72 to the tenure of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi. As the two accounts conflict, that batch is not dated here.
Other reporting
- Will past disorder in senior advocate selection be corrected? — Kantipur (Nepali), 2 Oct 2026
- Can new rules bring order to senior advocate selection? — The Kathmandu Post, 2 Oct 2026
