Workshop on Law Reform in Afghanistan

Efforts have been underway to reform and strengthen the Afghan criminal justice system since 2003. To aid in the law reform process, USIP, in partnership with the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences (ISISC) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), organized a workshop on law reform in Afghanistan at ISISC's headquarters from April 22-28, 2008. Participants in the workshop included Afghan policymakers, Afghan and international members of the Afghan government-led Crimina Law Committee (CLC) and comparative criminal law experts. The workshop was coordinated by Rule of Law Deputy Director Colette Rausch, Senior Rule of Law Adviser Vivienne O'Connor and Chief of Party/Kabul John Dempsey and focused on criminal procedure reform challenges and issues, addressing serious crimes challenges through criminal law reform, and resource needs when implementing new laws.

 In preparation for the workshop, USIP conducted an extensive assessment of Afghanistan's criminal law framework and consulted Afghan government officials, criminal defense lawyers and international experts to identify important, complex and contentious issues to include on the workshop's agenda. Afghan officials from the Ministries of Interior and Justice, the Supreme Court, the Attorney General's Office, the Independent Human Rights Commission and Parliament all provided their views as to the most pressing topics to address at the workshop. Following the assesment and consultations, USIP developed the final workshop agenda and distributed this, along with copies of relevant laws and background materials, to all participants.

Healthy discussion among the participants at the workshop resulted in consensus on a number of policies related to criminal procedure which should be reflected in Afghanistan's draft Criminal Code. The code, when finalized, will be presented to the Cabinet for adoption.