Nepal assembly pledges to finish draft constitution in 18 months News
Nepal assembly pledges to finish draft constitution in 18 months

[JURIST] Officials from the Nepal Constituent Assembly (CA) [official website] on Monday announced [press release] that the CA will finish drafting the country's new constitution within 18 months. According to a unanimously approved timetable, the CA will approve the final version of the constitution by the end of April 2010, and it will be made public by mid-May of that year. The new constitution will replace the current interim constitution [text, PDF; materials], which provides for the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the creation of an interim parliament in which 25 percent of seats are held by former Maoist insurgents. Reuters has more. eKantipur has local coverage.

In December 2007, Nepal's interim parliament voted to abolish the monarchy [JURIST report] as part of a plan to bring members of the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoists (CPN-M) [party website] back into government. The establishment of the CA [JURIST report] in April 2008 and the abolition of the monarchy were the main parts of a 2006 peace agreement [text; JURIST report] between the CPN-M and the Nepalese government, which marked the end of a 10-year Maoist insurgency [JURIST report].

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.