Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Enhanced Integrated Framework ...

Justice system between government and civilsociety institutions, and improve access to thejustice system for all. In the longer term thesector will seek to increase specialization anddiversification of justice practices to meet morecomplex demands – including the importantand necessary interaction and relationship withinformal justice systems, which are prevalentthroughout the country, while expanding justiceservices. Transitional Justice is obviouslyan important aspect of the sector. The Government’sAction Plan for Peace, Reconciliationand Justice in Afghanistan acknowledges thatany mechanism for building peace and justicemust be carried out with the active and meaningfulparticipation of all national stakeholders,including the justice institutions.Contribution to the ANDSEconomic Growth: An efficiently operatingjustice system will encourage investment andfor economic activity to move from the informalto the formal sector, thereby strengtheningthe ability of the government to raise revenueinternally.Employment: Growth of the private sector, aprerequisite of which is an efficient judicial systemwill generate increased demand for labor.In addition, improved labor and contract lawswill lower the cost of hiring labor and directlyencourage increased employment, particularlyin urban centers.Poverty Reduction: Economic growth and increasedemployment will contribute to a reductionin poverty. In addition it should be notedthat women and the poor and marginalized aremost likely to be the ones to suffer the lack ofaccess to a fair and unbiased judicial system.Security/Stability: Poor security in certainparts of the country makes service delivery difficultor impossible and justice professionalsoperate at great personal risk. Police devotemost of their resources to maintaining security.Contribution of the Sector to Implementationof the Compact and MDGsAfghanistan Compact: The Justice Sector willhave met the four Rule of Law Compactbenchmarks by the end of 1391 (2010).Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Althoughjustice and the rule of law are notamong the eight plus one MDGs, they providethe enabling environment for poverty reductionand economic development.Current Situation in the SectorAchievements: Afghanistan has a mixed civillaw and Islamic Sharia-based formal legal systemthat has evolved over many years. In mostnon-urban areas customary legal systems continueto operate. While there is considerablevariation in these customary legal systems theyare usually based around traditional tribunals –jirgas, maracas shuras or mookee khans. Traditionalsystems usually have core principles ofapology and forgiveness, followed by reconciliation.Most Afghan customary systems arebased on the principle of restorative justice.The Constitution introduced three major reformsto the judicial system:• Art. 97 declared the judiciary an “independentorgan of the State” which “dischargesits duties side by side with the Legislativeand Executive Organs;”• The Constitution created a unified judicialsystem with an organizational structurethat is headed by the Supreme Court;• The constitution created a unified systemof laws. The Constitution and statutes createdunder the Constitution are legallydominant, with the basic principles of theSharia acting as a guide to the legislature.In August 2006 a new Supreme Court was approvedby National Assembly. The SupremeCourt then adopted a new Code of JudicialConduct, based on the internationally recognizedPrinciples of Judicial Conduct and establishingethical standards.Donor activity in the justice sector has generallyfocused on building capacity of the judicialsystem, including police training and courtconstruction.Needs Assessment: the following needs havebeen identified at the national and provinciallevels:64Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS)