3 The historical layers

The system is sedimentary. The Hindu dharma texts supplied a framework of duty and penance; the Muluki Ain of 1854 supplied a codified, status-based law applied by state courts; the Rana period added centralised control over judicial appointments; the period after 1951 introduced a separated judiciary, a supreme court, and eventually constitutional review; and the federal restructuring after 2015 added new levels of law-making.