How Nepal's Government Works: The Three Branches and Federal Structure

Nepal is governed under the Constitution of Nepal, which was promulgated on 20 September 2015 by the Constituent Assembly, replacing the Interim Constitution of 2007. The document is organised into 35 parts, 308 articles and 9 schedules, and it formally defines the country as an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular, inclusive, democratic, socialism-oriented federal democratic republic. The Constitution was adopted by an overwhelming majority of the Constituent Assembly, with 507 of its members voting in favour.

The most significant change introduced by the 2015 Constitution was the move from a centralised, unitary state to a federal system. Sovereign power is exercised by the people through elected representatives, and the powers of the state are separated among three branches — the executive, the legislature and the judiciary — and distributed across three tiers of government: federal, provincial and local. Each branch and tier draws its authority and its specific list of powers directly from the Constitution and its schedules, which is designed to provide checks and balances and prevent the concentration of power.

The Constitution can be amended by the Federal Parliament, but core provisions are entrenched: a constitutional amendment bill generally requires the assent of at least a two-thirds majority of the total number of members of each of the two federal houses, and amendments that alter the boundaries or distribution of powers of provinces additionally require the views of the affected provincial assemblies.

Under Part 7 of the Constitution, executive power is vested in the Council of Ministers. Nepal follows a parliamentary system in which the roles of head of state and head of government are separated. The President is the head of state and the ceremonial guardian of the Constitution, while the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers form the working executive that runs the country day to day.

The President is elected indirectly, not by the public. The electoral college is made up of the members of the Federal Parliament (both houses) together with the members of all seven provincial assemblies, with votes weighted to balance the two levels. The President serves a five-year term. The role is largely ceremonial: the President authenticates bills passed by Parliament into law, summons and prorogues parliamentary sessions on the advice of the government, and makes appointments to constitutional bodies, but acts almost entirely on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.

Real executive authority lies with the Prime Minister. The President appoints as Prime Minister the leader of the party (or coalition) commanding a majority in the House of Representatives, and a Council of Ministers is then formed under the Prime Minister's chairmanship from among members of the Federal Parliament, on an inclusive basis. The Constitution caps the Council at no more than 25 ministers. The Prime Minister and ministers are collectively responsible to the Federal Parliament, and each minister is individually answerable for their ministry; the government remains in office only so long as it retains the confidence of the House of Representatives.

Part 8 of the Constitution establishes the Federal Parliament as the country's supreme law-making body. It is bicameral, consisting of a lower house, the House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha), and an upper house, the National Assembly (Rastriya Sabha). Parliament makes federal laws, approves the national budget and taxation, ratifies treaties, holds the executive to account, and can remove a government through a vote of no confidence.

The House of Representatives is the more powerful chamber, where governments are made and unmade. It is designed as a continuing chamber subject to elections, while the National Assembly is a permanent house that provides continuity and a check on hasty legislation, giving voice to the provinces and to under-represented groups. Most bills can originate in either house and must be passed by both, but money and finance bills are introduced only in the House of Representatives.

The two chambers are composed differently to balance population-based and territory-based representation:

Part 11 of the Constitution provides for a single, integrated and independent judiciary, with the principle that powers relating to justice are exercised by courts and other judicial bodies in accordance with the Constitution and law. The judiciary interprets the Constitution and statutes, settles disputes, and protects fundamental rights. Judicial independence is a guaranteed feature of the system.

Nepal's courts are arranged in three tiers. At the apex sits the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice, who is the head of the entire judiciary. Below it, each of the seven provinces has a High Court, and there is a District Court in each of the 77 districts handling cases at first instance. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council, while other judges are recommended by the Judicial Council, which the Chief Justice chairs.

The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal and the guardian of the Constitution. It can hear appeals, issue prerogative writs to protect fundamental rights, and review laws for constitutionality. A special Constitutional Bench — comprising the Chief Justice and four other judges — hears defined categories of dispute, including jurisdictional disputes between the federal, provincial and local levels of government and serious questions of constitutional interpretation, making it a key arbiter of the federal system.

Beyond the separation of the three branches, the 2015 Constitution distributes power across three levels of government, each with its own elected legislature and executive. The Constitution's schedules set out exclusive powers for the federation (Schedule 5), the provinces (Schedule 6) and the local level (Schedule 8), as well as lists of concurrent powers shared between levels (Schedules 7 and 9), which are to be exercised in a spirit of cooperation, coexistence and coordination.

The federal government in Kathmandu handles matters of national scope such as defence, foreign affairs, citizenship, central monetary and fiscal policy, and major national infrastructure. The seven provinces each have a unicameral Provincial Assembly that elects a Chief Minister as head of the provincial executive; a Governor, appointed by the President, serves as the province's ceremonial head and the representative of the federal government. At the grassroots, 753 local units exercise wide responsibilities over local services, basic education, primary health and local development.

The seven provinces are Koshi, Madhesh, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpashchim. The 753 local units are made up of metropolitan cities, sub-metropolitan cities, municipalities and rural municipalities (gaunpalika), each governed by an elected assembly and a mayor or chairperson. This structure was first populated through the local elections of 2017 and the federal and provincial elections that followed.

The three branches are interdependent rather than wholly separate, and the Constitution builds in mutual checks so that no single branch dominates. The executive is drawn from and accountable to the legislature: the Prime Minister must command a majority in the House of Representatives and can be removed by a no-confidence vote, while Parliament scrutinises the government's policies, spending and conduct.

The legislature makes the laws, but those laws take effect only after they are authenticated by the President (the head of state within the executive branch), and they remain subject to review by the judiciary. The Supreme Court can strike down legislation or executive action that conflicts with the Constitution, giving the courts the final word on constitutionality. In turn, the appointment of senior judges involves the Constitutional Council and the Judicial Council, bodies that include figures from the executive and legislature, linking the branches in the appointment process.

The relationship can be summarised as a triangle: the legislature (Federal Parliament) makes the law and sustains or dismisses the government; the executive (President plus Prime Minister and Council of Ministers) implements the law and administers the state; and the judiciary (Supreme Court, High Courts and District Courts) interprets the law, resolves disputes and enforces the Constitution. This same logic of separated, mutually accountable powers is reproduced at the provincial and local tiers.