101 LAND CONFLICT RESOLUTION MECHANISMS Formal and informal mechanisms A number of formal and informal mechanisms are available for resolving landrelated conflicts in Nepal. The formal mechanisms are those that must follow official procedures and are guided by government rules, regulations and laws. The formal mechanisms are further subdivided into two categories. The first is the court system and the second includes quasi-judicial organizations such as government offices concerned with resources, police, and local administration. The formal mechanisms are generally slow, taking up to five years, and pursuing cases require significant financial resources (Upreti, 2004). There are other practices of resolving land conflicts beyond the formal justice system, particularly through the local governments, which began during the Panchayat system. For example, Village Panchayat Act 2018 BS (1962 AD) with amendments 2021 BS (1965 AD) and 2035 BS (1978 AD), gave authority to local governments to resolve disputes related to public land, boundaries, wages, trespassing, sources of water and pasture land and collection of grass and firewood. Unfortunately, local governments were not effective in this role because the elected officials of the system fueled socioeconomic and political conflict, perpetuated feudalism and failed to work for the poor (Khanal, 2003). Mediation is a form of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) and serves as a complementary mechanism to the formal and informal dispute resolution mechanisms. It allows the disputants to select a panel of trained mediators available in the community who will provide a neutral and confidential venue for dialogue between the parties. In this sense, community mediation programs are considered as a democratic forum for resolving disputes. These programs started in Nepal as an intervention targeting those who could not easily access the formal justice system. Community mediation programs have helped reduce the frequency of disputes in targeted communities and have helped improve understanding, coordination and cooperation among community members. Despite the availability of various dispute resolution mechanisms, there are difficulties in getting justice to those who are poor or small farmers, as they Nepal Land Conflict Monitoring Report From 1996 to 2006 the Maoist insurgency, which led to the end of the world’s last Hindu kingdom, was a conflict for control over land and resources. In the aftermath of the conflict, the Interim Constitution provides the most robust human rights protections to date in Nepal. Land reform remains on the agenda, but the highly politicized nature of the debate has thus far impeded any real change.