How to Fix Afghanistan's Judiciary System - Recommendations by International Crisis Group

The International Crisis Group is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict.  The ICG has just release a comprehensive report that identifies the problems with the Afghanistan judiciary system and provides recommendations on how to fix it.  A brief description taken from the Executive Summary of the report is provided below.  The link below will take you to the organizations website where you can view the entire Executive Summary and read the report or download it (Adobe Acrobat file). 

"Afghanistan’s justice system is in a catastrophic state of disrepair. Despite repeated pledges over the last nine years, the majority of Afghans still have little or no access to judicial institutions. Lack of justice has destabilised the country and judicial institutions have withered to near non-existence. Many courts are inoperable and those that do function are understaffed. Insecurity, lack of proper training and low salaries have driven many judges and prosecutors from their jobs. Those who remain are highly susceptible to corruption. Indeed, there is very little that is systematic about the legal system, and there is little evidence that the Afghan government has the resources or political will to tackle the challenge. The public, consequently, has no confidence in the formal justice sector amid an atmosphere of impunity. A growing majority of Afghans have been forced to accept the rough justice of Taliban and criminal powerbrokers in areas of the country that lie beyond government control."

See "Reforming Afghanistan's Broken Judiciary", Asia Report No 195, International Crisis Group, November 17, 2010.