AFGHANISTAN

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17 December 2007
Partnership To Support Afghan Justice System Launched

By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
USINFO Staff Writer

Washington -- To enhance the evolution of democracy in Afghanistan, the United States has launched a public-private partnership to help improve the fledgling Afghan justice system by funding low-cost, high-impact projects that promote women's rights, access to justice, legal aid, professional legal development and other justice-related programs.

An additional challenge, especially in Afghanistan's more rural areas, is expanding public awareness of basic legal rights.

The program, first announced by the State Department in November, is designed to bring the American legal community and law schools into a partnership sponsored by the State Department to support the Afghan legal system.

"Establishing a fair, democratic and transparent justice system in Afghanistan is essential to the country's success, and we know that there is much work remaining to be done. One concern for the justice system is the deficiency of basic equipment ... and the limited availability of defense attorneys and private practitioners," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said December 13.

In July, the United States participated in the Rome Conference on Rule of Law in Afghanistan, pledging $15 million in new assistance in addition to the $145 million allocated for justice reform over the last five years, according to the State Department. Despite pledges that totaled $98 million from the international community over a multiyear period, a $500 million shortfall still exists for the next five years.

The State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is spearheading the new public-private partnership to assist in meeting the shortfall in funding. The program is being directed by Thomas Schweich, U.S. coordinator for counternarcotics and justice reform in Afghanistan, and Robert O'Brien, a partner in the Washington-based law firm of Arent Fox LLP. O'Brien is a former U.S. alternate representative to the United Nations.

Under the terms of the program, the partnership allows U.S. law firms to make tax deductible contributions to fund projects to strengthen the Afghan justice system.

Funding from the private sector will support projects to promote women's issues, legal aid, public awareness of legal rights and professional development of lawyers, judges and defense attorneys. Contributions will be channeled through the State Department to support the activities of local nongovernmental organizations such as the Afghan Women Judges Association, the Legal Aid Organization of Afghanistan, the Afghan Bar Association and the Afghan Prosecutors Association.

Rice said the United States believes providing lawyer-to-lawyer support through the partnership will bring Afghan legal practitioners into the larger international legal community.

"Afghanistan is engaged in a reform process that will take a great deal of time, a great deal of resources, and a great deal of commitment from the United States, from the Afghan people, from the international community, and from concerned private citizens," Rice said December 13.

And a central priority, Rice said, is increasing the number of women judges. Afghanistan currently has approximately 1,500 judges nationwide, but only 60 are women.

"It is imperative that Afghanistan develop a well-trained, educated, and demographically representative cadre of judges to serve in courts across the country," Rice said.

The Afghanistan attorney general's office employs 368 women, and 109 are prosecutors. Rice praised Afghan Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabit for being one of the largest employers of women in the Afghan government.

A transcript of Rice’s remarks is available on USINFO.

For more information, see Rebuilding Afghanistan.

(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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