Dr Bipin Adhikari

Dr Bipin Adhikari is a senior constitutional expert and policy analyst in Nepal. He is currently a Professor of Law at the Kathmandu University School of Law (KUSOL) and served as its founding dean in December 2013. Additionally, he chairs the Law Subject Committee overseeing all undergraduate and graduate programmes at KUSOL and is a member of its Faculty Board. Dr Adhikari is also a member of the Kathmandu University Academic Council.

Dr Adhikari earned his PhD in constitutional law from the University of Delhi and was designated as a senior advocate by the Supreme Court of Nepal in 2017.

Dr Adhikari has notable academic and professional interests in constitutional law, public policy, institution-building, human rights, access to justice, infrastructure development, legal reforms, good governance, and the democratization process. He currently serves as a member of the Tribhuvan University Faculty of Law Research Committee and is a law curriculum advisor to Lumbini Buddhist University. Dr Adhikari is also a member of the Faculty Board of the School of Management and Law at Nepal Open University in Kathmandu. He is a member of the Sagarmatha Sambad Steering Committee, a global dialogue programme of the Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that discusses contemporary issues. Furthermore, he serves as the Senior Expert Member of the Thematic Group on Political, Legal, and Social Affairs of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), the policy think tank of the Government of Nepal.

Dr Adhikari is the chief editor of Essays on Constitutional Law, published bi-annually by the Nepal Law Society. He recently edited A Treatise on the Constitution of Nepal 2015 (Kathmandu: Kathmandu University School of Law, 2020), an important contribution to the study of Nepal’s new Constitution. Additionally, his recent book, Salient Features of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 (Kathmandu: Nepal Consulting Lawyers Inc, 2016), is the first commentary on Nepal’s new Constitution, critically analyzing the reforms introduced under it. Dr Adhikari is a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Constitution Watch Group. He continues to strongly support constitutionalism, the rule of law, and liberal political causes in Nepal, earning him recognition as a leading voice in the area of constitutional law.

Dr Adhikari’s career has included assignments with national and international agencies, including various United Nations (UN) entities like the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and UN peacekeeping missions. He has previously served with the UN in Cambodia, Liberia, and Timor-Leste.