Law of Afghanistan
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3RD EDITION AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW OF AFGHANISTAN An Introduction to the Law of Afghanistan Third Edition Afghanistan Legal Education Project (ALEP) at Stanford Law School http://alep.stanford.edu [email protected] Stanford Law School Crown Quadrangle 559 Nathan Abbott Way Stanford, CA 94305-8610 www.law.stanford.edu ALEP – STANFORD LAW SCHOOL Authors Eli Sugarman (Co-Founder, Student Co-Director, 2007-09) Alexander Benard (Co-Founder, Student Co-Director, 2007-09) Anne Stephens Lloyd (Student Co-Director, 2008-09) Ben Joseloff (Post-Doctoral Fellow at AUAF, 2008) Max Rettig (Student Co-Director, 2009-10) Stephanie Ahmad (Rule of Law Fellow, 2011-12) Jason Berg Editors Morgan Galland (Student Director, 2010-11) Rose Leda Ehler (Student Co-Director, 2011-12) Daniel Lewis (Student Co-Director, 2011-12) Ingrid Price (Student Co-Director, 2012-13) Catherine Baylin Elizabeth Espinosa Jane Farrington Gabriel Ledeen Nicholas Reed Faculty Director Erik Jensen Rule of Law Program Executive Director Megan Karsh Program Advisor Rolando Garcia Miron AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF AFGHANISTAN Contributing Faculty Editors Ghizaal Haress Hamid Khan Haroon Mutasem Chair of the Department of Law Taylor Strickling, 2012-13 Hadley Rose, 2013-14 Mehdi Hakimi, 2014- TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE .................................................................................................................................... VI CHAPTER 1: LEGAL HISTORY OF AFGHANISTAN AND THE RULE OF LAW ......... 1 I. INTRODUCTION AND OPENING INQUIRIES ............................................................... 1 II. AFGHANISTAN’S LEGAL HISTORY ............................................................................. 6 III. THE RULE OF LAW – AN OVERVIEW ....................................................................... 25 IV. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 36 CHAPTER 2: ACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE CURRENT CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM ...................................................................................................................................... 38 I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 38 A. Integration of State and Local Judicial Systems ........................................................... 38 B. Resource Constraints .................................................................................................... 39 C. Corruption ..................................................................................................................... 40 II. THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE LEGAL STRUCTURE OF AFGHANISTAN .............. 41 A. The Constitution ............................................................................................................ 41 B. Statutory Law ................................................................................................................ 42 C. The Executive Branch .................................................................................................... 44 D. The Legislative Branch ................................................................................................. 50 E. The Judicial Branch ...................................................................................................... 53 III. THE LEGAL PROFESSION ............................................................................................ 57 IV. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 61 CHAPTER 3: CIVIL PROCEDURE ........................................................................................ 63 I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 63 II. BACKGROUND: CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE ....................................................... 65 III. FIRST STEPS IN A LAWSUIT ....................................................................................... 67 A. Initiating a Claim: Articles 12-17 ................................................................................. 67 B. Grounds for Dismissal ................................................................................................... 68 C. Recusal of Judges: Articles 65-78 ................................................................................. 72 IV. NOTICE, SUMMONS, AND APPEARANCE ................................................................ 74 A. Plaintiff Must Appear and Pursue Claim in Court ........................................................ 74 B. Notice to the Defendant ................................................................................................. 75 C. Failure to Appear: Articles 130-150 ............................................................................. 76 V. CONFLICTS OF LAWS: 1977 CIVIL CODE ARTICLES 23-35 ................................... 77 VI. TRIAL PROCEEDINGS: ARTICLES 204-245 ............................................................... 79 A. Judicial Proceedings (Pleadings) .................................................................................. 79 B. Judicial Discussions (Oral Argument) .......................................................................... 80 ii C. Evidence ........................................................................................................................ 81 D. Witness Testimony ......................................................................................................... 82 E. Expert Testimony ........................................................................................................... 83 F. Burden of Proof ............................................................................................................. 83 G. Duration of Trials ......................................................................................................... 84 VII. SETTLEMENT AND JUDGMENT ................................................................................. 84 A. Settlement: Articles 230-232 ......................................................................................... 85 B. Judgment: Articles 246-266 .......................................................................................... 85 VIII. APPEAL ........................................................................................................................... 86 A. Grounds for Appeal ....................................................................................................... 86 B. Filing an Appeal ............................................................................................................ 87 C. Considering and Resolving an Appeal .......................................................................... 89 D. Standard of Review ....................................................................................................... 89 E. Appeal to the Supreme Court ........................................................................................ 90 IX. DECORUM AND JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION: ARTICLES 56-64 ....................... 90 A. Courtroom Decorum ..................................................................................................... 91 B. Judicial Administration and Judicial Qualifications .................................................... 91 X. CIVIL PROCEDURE IN PRACTICE .............................................................................. 92 A. Property Claims: Administrative and Judicial Procedures .......................................... 92 B. Family Law: Articles 101-120 ....................................................................................... 93 XI. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 94 CHAPTER 4: PROPERTY LAW ............................................................................................. 97 I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 97 II. PROPERTY OWNERSHIP AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ................................ 99 A. Security ........................................................................................................................ 100 B. Market Access and Credit ........................................................................................... 101 C. Increased Ownership ................................................................................................... 104 D. Formalization Attempts and Failures ......................................................................... 107 E. Credit Challenges ........................................................................................................ 110 III. AFGHAN PROPERTY LAW ........................................................................................ 112 A. The Scope of Property Rights under the Constitution of Afghanistan ......................... 112 B. Dispute Resolution ...................................................................................................... 114 C. Registration ................................................................................................................. 115 D. Transfer of Property .................................................................................................... 119 E. Use ..............................................................................................................................