Kathmandu, June 12 -- The Supreme Court has directed the government to enact a law criminalising the recruitment and use of children under the age of 18 in armed forces and to classify such acts as serious human rights violations, saying Nepal's transitional justice Act fails to adequately address the issue despite the country's international obligations.

A full bench of justices Sapana Pradhan Malla, Sunil Pokharel and Shanti Singh Thapa issued the ruling in response to a writ petition filed by nine former child combatants led by Lenin Bista, founding chair of the Discharged People's Liberation Army, a non-governmental advocacy group, challenging amendments to the transitional justice law for failing to address the concerns of former ch...