By U.S. Army
Col. Randy Pullen Office of Military Cooperation - Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 28, 2004 — Representatives from the Afghan Ministry of Defense and General Staff legal departments gathered in Kabul last month for a three-day legal seminar.

This was the second such seminar held - the first one was held in June. Both were organized and conducted by the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies from Newport, R.I.

Attendees at the June seminar heard delegates from Malaysia and the Czech Republic speak about how an Islamic democratic government blended Islamic law with secular law and how a former Communist state transformed to a democracy. These were topics of keen interest to the Afghan legal representatives.

The second seminar, held Sept. 13-15 and hosted by the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan, focused on ethics in government and government contracting. Specific topics included ethical concerns in public agencies -- fraud, waste and abuse, standards of conduct, contracting basics, ethics in contracting, environmental law, and inspector general investigations.

[It is unfortunate that while this seminar was being conducted on of Afghanistan's biggest legal tragedies was occurring.  Three Americans and three Afghan military officers were being tried by a former Taliban judge.  No evidence was presented, no witnesses sworn in on the Koran, and all basic rights guaranteed by the Afghan Criminal Code were ignored during the trial.  Not a single aid organization or human rights group spoke up about the illegal trial.  Those attending this seminar also turned a blind eye.  Until people lose their fear to speak out and defend truth and liberty Afghanistan will have no justice.  While General Weston had an experienced translator for his seminar, the Americans sentenced to 10 years in prison, without any evidence against them, had several different translators, none of which properly translated the proceedings for them.]

Plenary and small group discussions and case studies of specific issues allowed the attendees to examine these topics in more detail.

These quarterly institute seminars are very important for the future of the Afghan military justice system, according to Navy Cmdr. Chris Jung of Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan’s Special Staff Directorate.

“We’re starting from square one and working on developing the core concepts of each of the legal departments in the Ministry of Defense and General Staff,” said Jung, who came to Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan from an assignment as the Deputy Fleet Judge Advocate General, Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Va.

“There is no resident legal expertise,” said Jung. “They’re still working on understanding the scope of their authority in those departments.”

Complicating the establishment of the military justice system is the state of legal affairs that exists in Afghanistan.

Those who practice law in Afghanistan receive their legal training primarily in two ways. One way is based on Sharia law from the Quaran. The other is based on attending the Kabul Faculty of Law, which despite its name, has more of a political science or government type of curriculum than a law school curriculum that one would find in the United States.

[There are only approximately 162 defense lawyers at most in the entire country of Afghanistan.  Few have more than a high-school education, many have not even completed high school.  Most prosecutors have no formal training in law and until the system of bribery for justice is eliminated by reconstruction funds assisting the pay of defense lawyers and prosecutors, justice will never be found in Afghanistan.]

There is no bar association to regulate the standards for legal training or the qualifications for lawyers.

[Actually this was an incorrect statement, there is a National Lawyers Association, which is a small group of law professors, and the Afghan Bar Association, which is Afghanistan's largest and most influential lawyer's group.  The Afghan Bar has been unable to get any support from the American military or any aid organizations, because most of these organizations have little or no idea about Afghanistan's actual legal system and crisis]

Further confusing things is a hodgepodge of legal systems in place, ranging from tribal law to alternative dispute resolution to vestiges of the Soviet-style legal system of armed forces courts.

Straightening out the Afghan legal situation is an item of national importance, so much so that the 2004 Afghan constitution mandates that a National Courts Reorganization Law be signed no later than January 2005.

The Special Staff of Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan is working to untangle the confusion and put in place a modern military justice system. Because it is an Afghan justice system, it will be a meld of Islamic law and modern secular law, said Jung

Training is a major part of developing this system.

“The U.S. Navy, Army and Air Force JAG schools are helping us with primers or basic handbooks on specific areas of law, such as standards of conduct, acquisition law and so on,” said Jung.

“They give this material to us, we have them translated, and we bring in subject matter experts to lead the discussion and the teaching of these core competencies in hands-on seminars like those being conducted at the institute seminar.

“Each school will provide us with two areas, taken down to the basic components of the subject,” he added.

The challenges in developing a military legal system that is fair and just, and one that is faithful to the Afghan culture and the needs of its army and its soldiers, are many.

The main factor in favor of this being done lies with the determination and passion to succeed of the members of the Ministry of Defense and General Staff legal departments.

The Afghans intend to reform their legal establishment to one that has a good standing and level of respect comparable with other nations. In their path toward this goal, they will be helped and encouraged at every step by their friends in the Coalition and the international community.

____________________

The international community must assign proper resources and financial aid to the legal system of Afghanistan if the west wants to see reform and basic liberty interests protected in our country.