Criminal Justice Sector Reform
More than thirty years of conflict and civil war have largely obliterated Afghanistan's justice system and the rule of law in the country.
The formal justice system continues to suffer from severe and systematic problems, despite significant improvements in recent years. Re-establishing the rule of law, addressing impunity, and developing a professional judicial culture are prerequisites for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
UNODC's role in the criminal justice sector comes in several fields:
- Promotion of and support for the implementation of Afghanistan's counter-narcotics law;
- Enabling of the process of developing a national anti-corruption strategy.
- Advice to the Afghan government on the reform of anti-corruption legislation, including compliance with the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC);
- Creation and dissemination of handbooks for judicial actors, including prosecutors, defence lawyers and judges;
- Mentoring and training of judicial actors in police-prosecutor cooperation and the handling of corruption cases, and in the handling drug cases;
- Within prison settings, UNODC assists in the development of critical infrastructure, and trains prison wardens and managers in humane detention, including the management of drug addiction.
National and Provincial Criminal Justice Sectors
At the national and provincial levels, UNODC focuses on enhancing the legislative capacity, institutional mechanisms and ability of judicial actors to prosecute crimes-- especially drug-related criminality. As such, UNODC provides financial and technical support to the Afghan government in its establishment of the High Office of Oversight . The broad mandate of this office includes the oversight of preventative and administrative measures against corruption that are to be established by all Afghan institutions, as well as performance monitoring of law enforcement and judicial institutions in following up complaints and in their detection, investigation, prosecution and adjudication of corruption cases both criminal and disciplinary.
UNODC provides the Ministry of Justice with technical assistance to implement the provisions of the law on the High Office of Oversight, and in the implementation of the 2008 Anti-Administrative Corruption Strategy.
Regional Criminal Justice Sector
At the regional level, UNODC assists the Afghan government in developing legislation and regulations that support effective cooperation among Afghanistan and neighbouring countries against crime, with a focus on UNODC's specialist expertise in drugs, money laundering, human trafficking and intelligence-sharing.
UNODC enhances human capacity in the justice sector in order to ensure that officials are able to take advantage of the legal tools at their disposal in pursuit of cross-border crime. To further this goal, UNODC supports the UN Narcotics Conventions, as well as the requirements of UNCAC and U N Convention on Transnational Organized Crime for a common legal framework and effective mutual legal assistance. UNODC's leadership of the national/international Criminal Law Reform Working Group has integrated mutual legal cooperation into the revised Afghan Criminal Procedure Code.
Concept Note on "Criminal Justice Sector in Afghanistan" (full text)