The Ministry of Home Affairs has prepared a draft “Bill to Amend Some Nepal Acts Relating to Disasters, 2083” and sought public opinions and suggestions on the proposal. The draft seeks to amend the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2074, the National Civil Code, 2074, and the National Identity Card and Registration Act, 2076, with the stated aim of making disaster-related legal procedures more systematic.

Under the proposed changes to the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, special provisions would be introduced for the search, storage and handover to families of bodies of people killed in serious disasters. The amendment would also provide for minimum relief to families of people who remain missing following disasters.

A significant proposed change to the Civil Code would address cases where disaster victims remain missing even after search and rescue operations end. If the government makes a decision under prevailing law in such circumstances, a separate judicial declaration of death would not be required. The bill also proposes allowing death registration after the disaster-declared period or search-and-rescue operation ends when a missing person cannot be located.

For foreign nationals killed or missing in disasters, the relevant embassy or diplomatic mission responsible for Nepal could act as the informant for registration purposes. The draft specifies supporting documents for death registration and provides that, once the required information is received, the local registrar would register the death and issue a certificate.