Afghanistan Law

Just like any other country, Afghanistan is a nation that is looking to expand and grow. One of the ways that nations are able to grow is to really delve into the laws that have been devised for that nation, and see if there can be any improvements made, if at all. It is also the goal of nations who reach this point to see how it is that they may be able to make and additions to the laws that are current. In other instances, it is decided that there be aspects of the law that are taken away from the national legislation. One of the approaches that the nation of Afghanistan seems to have in devising their laws is that the people are to be actively involved in the new Afghanistan laws. This philosophy stems from the fact that since the people are the ones to be affected by the Afghanistan laws, they are the people who should also play an active role in what the government decides that it will make law in the end. This governmental approach is called the Bonn Agreement. It was formally devised in the year 2001. The Bonn Agreement gets its name because this is the place where the agreement was officially made, in Bonn Germany. As many of the affluent people in the nation of Afghanistan as well as the Afghan Interim Authority met in Bonn, they went there with a plan as to establish the political code and way of moving the nation of Afghanistan forward. Also, as a component of the Bonn Agreement, it was agreed that Afghanistan would come up with this Constitution that would obtain more involvement from the people of Afghanistan in a period of 18 months. The new constitution of Afghanistan laws were officially input into the official legislation in January 2004. Further stipulations of the Bonn Agreement were that the Afghanistan laws that were to be placed in the Constitution show respect in scope to the international laws that are of standard, as well as still remain infused with some of the Afghanistan law traditions.

The Afghanistan law judicial system is something that is a work in progress, to this date. In the areas that are known to be ran by the Taliban, there were many instances in which people were killed as a result of the crimes that they have committed. Typically, there was only a short trial that was held in order to initiate the final ruling, as well. There are trials that have said to have been tried for all of ten minutes, then if the person was convicted of murder for example, he or she would be executed right in front of the public. It was also said that the thieves would publicly have a limb cut off in public, be it the hand or the foot. Although there are still some areas that are highly prone to the archaic tactics of the previous mode of judicial enforcement, there are other areas that are working on transitioning to a more modern resolve to the practices of the judicial system.

As a component of the Bonn Agreement, the year 2004 was also a year where the Supreme Court of Afghanistan was formed. By the new Afghanistan laws, the Supreme Court would be an option that would be available for those who needed the highest court to way in on an given matter. Just as in some other countries, the Supreme Court will now be established through the Afghanistan laws as the highest court. There are currently nine justices that serve on the Afghanistan Supreme Court. Out of the nine justices, they all are slated to serve at least a ten year term, to which they each will specialize in either civil law or Islamic law for that term. At the initial start of the court rulings for the Supreme Court, the final verdicts that were being made in the cases were said by some to be a bit harsh. Some felt that the final rulings were one sided in consistence with what only the most conservative thought to be correct. Some have even pointed out that the initial stages of the court went against the old as well as the new Afghanistan laws that were passed in the nation. In 2006, there was a new Chief Justice that was appointed, and he was said to enforce more moderate views than what was previous.

Afghanistan law is actively enforced by the International Security Assistance Force. There are also a number of smaller militia groups that have taken on the responsibility of enforcing the law in some regions of the country. The International Security Assistance Force is the security force that was agreed upon with the United Nations to take on the security measures of Afghanistan. This was yet another agreement that was made between Afghanistan and the United Nations as a component of the Bonn Agreement. Such security measures were adapted in order to allow for some of the people who had met in Bonn, Germany to initiate their authoritative control as the nation of Afghanistan moved toward the new approach to the Afghanistan Constitution. The group of people that made up this chain of authoritative control were called the Afghan Transitional Administration. They only served the nation temporarily, as it was originally intended for them to. The International Security Assistance Force was originally slated to secure the surrounding area of Kabul, but it has sense felt the need to extend its realm of security in the land. Despite more forces, there still has been a number of attacks that have been acted upon against the International Security Assistance Force. The International Security Assistance Force continues to intensify its methods with the support of other nations.

Afghanistan law is said to be violated by some in a number of different ways. The illegal action in the nation stems from a number of different violent acts, fraud, drug trafficking, as well as black marketeering. It has been even stated that there has been a violation of the heart of the Afghanistan laws by some of those who serve as members of the governmental body. One of the groups that is said to have committed this ongoing act is the National Directorate of Security. It is said to be believed by some that the National Directorate of Security illegal actions are taking place in the abuse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces that are captured. It is believed that many of these soldiers that are captured are brutally beaten, then kept in inhumane conditions. It is also said that there are a number of journalists who are tortured at the hands of the National Directorate of Security.

The Afghanistan Constitution of 2004 contains a total of 160 articles. One of the aspects that can be found in the Afghanistan Constitution is the power and reign of the President. One of the things that were established as part of the terms of the new Afghanistan laws is that the election will be influenced by the people. This is to say that it is now a component of Afghanistan law that the people will decide through a voting election who will serve as the President of the country. In order to be eligible for election as President, the prospective President must be Muslim. The Afghanistan law also goes on to state that this must be a person that has not been convicted of any civil crimes of humanity, either violent or non-violent in their convictions. Each President is to serve a term of five years. After serving for a period of five years, the President is allowed to run again for re-election as President. Nevertheless, they are only allowed to do this one time, as Afghanistan law states that no incoming President can have served for more than two terms as President. What is different about the new Afghanistan law from that of other countries is that there are two Vice Presidents that will be elected in the Presidential election. In other nations, it is only one Vice President that is elected. In addition, Afghanistan law states that one of the Vice Presidents will serve as a lower ranking than the other. They both still will have rather important duties and roles to fulfill, but one will have varied duties, as this Vice President will be higher ranked within the legal executive structure. The President, along with the Afghanistan National Assembly is responsible for determining who will be selected as members of the Afghanistan Cabinet. There is an selected Prime Minister that is to head every governmental department, from finance to education, to foreign affairs, to energy and water, to the economy, public health, justice, agriculture, Islamic affairs, as well as many other facets of Afghanistan law.

The legislative branch of the nation of Afghanistan is represented by the Hose of the People, and the House of the Elders. The House of the People, also commonly known as the Wolesi Jirga, is made up of 249 delegates. Elected members of the House of the People are elected for a term of five years. Nevertheless, more than a decade had passed before elections were reconvened the last time. From those delegates who are elected, Afghanistan law specifically states that at least sixty-four of the delegates are to be female. The House of the People are intended to work to serve the people as well as support the President. With this duty, that means that they are to compose the laws that both the people, as well as the President, find to be in the best interest of the nation. It is currently time for a new legislative election within the nation of Afghanistan. Some say that the nation should wait until the violence and tones of violence have calmed down tremendously, and they are some who say that unruly violence should not stop the nation from doing what the Constitution of Afghanistan has instructed them to do. One of the major concerns that were held in this regard was the fact that the Presidential election at the end of the previous year had brought on so many acts of violence. Nevertheless, currently the Pre-election phases of the election for the House of the People is currently under way.

The other legislative branch is considered to be higher than the House of the People. It is called the House of Elders, and its common name is the Meshrano Jirga. The House of Elders has a total of 102 members that serve in its legislative office. The members are elected for a period of three to five years by the district counsels, the provincial counsels, or are nominated by the President. However, if there is no election to take place, people will stay in their respective seats until the new member is voted in to replace them. It is said that the way that the House of Elders stay actively involved with the different facets of the Afghanistan law is by offering their sound and experienced opinions when a law is being proposed. Nevertheless, there are, in fact, instances where the House of Elders will take the initiative to lay down the law themselves, if they do not agree that a particular law is right for the country. In recent years, Afghanistan women have also come to serve as members of the House of Elders.