The Speech of H. E. Minister of Justice of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at the International Law Congress, Istanbul, Turkey

Alhamdullilah wa kafa wa salamun alaa ebadihi llazinastafa Ama Baad,

Awozo Billahi Minishaitani Rajeem,

Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem,

His Excellency, Rajab Tayeb Urdughan, the Prime Minister of the brotherly country, Turkey, His Excellency, the Justice Minister of the Republic of Turkey and distinguished participants of the International  Law Congress,

Assalam u Alikum Wa Rahmatullhai Wa Barakatuhu!

May praise be to Allah Almighty that I meet your excellency while you are healthy, triumph, and the democracy in Turkey is in continuum. Let me to express my heartfelt gratitude on my side, and His Excellency Sayed Yousuf Haleem, the Chief Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, His Excellency Ahmad Fareed Hameedi, the Attorney General of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Dr. Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, Director General of the Supervisory Board for the Implementation of the Afghan Constitution and Mr. Mohammad Ashraf Rasuli, Senior Advisor of the Justice Ministry, and on behalf of my entourage, for inviting us to participate in this great Congress, and congratulate you for taking the initiative of convening this glorious scientific and law congress.

It is important to mention that both Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Republic of Turkey have many things in common in several areas. After acquiring independence of Afghanistan in 1919, while founding the new government, the Council of Sciences and Legislations was established. In the field of codification of laws, the legal advisors of the friendly country of Turkey, led by Badri Beg and Jamal Pasha as advisors and interpreters, were invited to Afghanistan, for which our country owes these two great men for their enormous services rendered to us in this regard.

Moreover, the jurisprudence book, titled Mujalatul Ahkaam codified in Turkey, was been translated into Dari by the then government of Afghanistan and is being used by judges and the Judicial Institutions of Afghanistan so far.  

Respected friends, present in this splendid gathering:

As you are well aware, that the present congress is mainly focusing on three key topics: Enhancing Judicial Cooperation, Facilitating Functioning of the Judiciary and Alternatives for Dispute Resolutions. In fact each of these topics has its own importance.

 Judicial Cooperation

The trans-boundary and regional organized crimes are in rise and changing face day by day; and you excellencies may be aware that the criminology specialists have termed the present century as the “Century of Organized Crimes”.

Unfortunately, the rise and diversity of the organized crimes in the region of the participating countries is far more than other regions, hence this region can be denominated as the strategic region of the organized crimes of Asia.

Therefore, for the purpose of enhancing the regional justice cooperation, convening of such legal conferences and events is an unavoidable requirement for the countries of this region. As the national crime policy in fighting the organized crimes is not adequate and responsive, so there is a need to enhance the transnational and regional anti-crime cooperation among the countries of the region, more than ever.

Facilitating  functioning of the Judiciary

On one hand, the bulk of unresolved cases in the courts, and on the other hand, concerns of access to justice and facilitating judicial affairs, have always been and still are the main concerns of the justice and judicial institutions in our countries. Therefore, developing and amending the procedural laws, even for a short period of time, has been recommended by the legal experts.

In this regard, the Ministry of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, as the institution responsible for developing and preparing the drafts of laws, legislative decrees and other legal documents, during the recent upheavals, recently has drafted, developed and processed the scattered and unorganized national procedural laws several times, such as the new Criminal Procedure Code that has encompassed all previously-scattered procedural provisions and now has been codified and organized in a single volume.   

Likewise, at the international level, the Ministry of Justice of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has endeavored to develop and process the Law on Extradition of Suspects, Accused and Convicts, in light of the international standards. Also, numerous regional and international agreements of cooperation with some countries, have been, developed and prepared, following the signing, they have been processed.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The dispute resolution, alongside preserving the rights of both sides and ensuring justice, has been and still is one of the most important issues and a legal concern for the countries at national and international levels.

In this regard, the official criminal policies of countries at the national and international level have always been faced with challenges. Therefore, finding alternative ways of dispute resolution has a pivotal role in increasing regional cooperation, and securing national and regional peace and stability.

The ministry of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has the honor for taking major and essential steps at both national and international levels:

1. At national level, the ministry of Justice, taking the legal principles and standards into account, developed and adapted the law of Councils and Assemblies (Shura and Jirga) on basis of the needs of the country.
2. At the international level, the Ministry of Justice has prepared the draft of the necessity for Afghanistan to join the Statute of International Court, and fortunately, resulted in joining of Afghanistan in the said Statute. On the other hand, this ministry has the honor to inscribe and incorporate all crimes listed in this statute in the new Draft of Penal Code of Afghanistan.

Based on afore-mentioned points, the regional judicial cooperation is an unavoidable requirement of countries of the region. Thus, passing from the monopolized national criminal policy to the regional criminal policy, related to legal-judicial issues is inevitable for the regional judicial convergence, and ultimately, for maintaining the regional peace and stability.

At the end, the Ministry of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan would like to thank the government of Republic of Turkey once again, especially the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Turkey for convening such a great and important congress, and expresses its willingness to ensure the realization of the objectives of the regional cooperation, and is ready to take further cooperative steps in this regard.

والسلام علیکم و رحمة الله و برکاته.

Thank you.