Ministry of Justice Convenes A three days Afghanistan National Legal Aid Congress in Kabul

13^th of January, 2019

This congress was inaugurated today by his Excellency Qanoon Poh Sarwar Danish Second Vice President and Dr. Abdul Basir Anwar the Justice Minister, in Kabul. In this congress Deputies, heads, staff members of the Justice Ministry, Supreme Court representatives, attorney general, Ministry of internal affairs, independent lawyers association and civil society participated for three days.

The Justice Minister talked about the history and necessity of the defense lawyer and added that there are only 151 legal aid providers all over the country and it is not sufficient compared to the population of the country and the requirement level.

He also added that the participants, shall evaluate the plan as well as the regulation of legal aid and all present programs in this regard and in order to improve the status of the legal aid all over the country, new and usable programs need to be prepared.

The Justice Minister added that the increase in remunerations of the legal aid providers has been put on discussion in the High Council of Rule of Law. He expressed hope that to implement the decision of the Council, necessary steps need to be taken.

The second Vice President Sarwar Danish, said that the most important element in good governance; is to present legal and judicial services for people, access to justice for civilians and rule of law and added: “If Justice is not executed in a country and if there is no rule of law and if there is no reformation in justice sector there will be no reformation in any other sector of the government”.

Mr. Danish also praised the work of the justice sector of Afghanistan and added: After the establishment of the new government in the country, we witness the advancements in various arenas such as:  provision of justice services, combat against crimes, ratification and endorsement of laws, provision of legal services for the accused/suspects and many more.  The second vice president praised these achievements and thanked the Ministry of Justice for scrutinizing and processing more than Four Hundred (400) legislative documents. He said that the work done in the period of the national unity government in the area of legislation, is unprecedented in the history of the country.

Dr. Zakia Adeli- Deputy Minister of Justice in social affairs, talked about this congress and thanked the Justice Organization in Afghanistan and the organizers of the occasion. Erick James Graham Petzeck, the head of Justice Project of Afghanistan talked about their continuity of cooperation, and said that establishment of peace in the country is based on establishing justice and extending legal and justice services all over the country. He also shared the US Ambassador Mr. John Bass message about this congress. Mr. John Bass in his recorded message assured the commitment and cooperation of his country for the establishment of rule of law in Afghanistan.