[legal-professionals] Afghan judicial body joins forces with UN agency to promote legal reform

AFGHAN JUDICIAL BODY JOINS FORCES WITH UN AGENCY TO PROMOTE LEGAL REFORM
New York, Jan 27 2003  1:00PM

With education initiatives and disarmament programmes already showing 
promise in Afghanistan, the country's judicial task force has now joined 
with the United Nations lead development agency to tackle legal reform.

The Afghan Judicial Reform Commission and the UN Development Programme 
(UNDP) signed yesterday a two-year project on Rebuilding the Justice System 
of Afghanistan. According to a spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission in 
Afghanistan (UNAMA), this is the first major step towards judicial reform 
since the creation of the Commission.

Spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said in Kabul that the first part of 
the project will be reconstructing and equipping the courthouses across the 
country; training judges and other law offices; increasing the capacity of 
the administration of justice system, and organizing seminars and training 
for the staff of the justice system.  "Particular attention will be given 
to ensure gender equity and a firmer role for women through the judicial 
system," Mr. Almeida e Silva said.

Strengthening the teaching and research capacity of Kabul University's 
Faculty of Law and Sharia will also be part of the initial stage of 
judicial reform. A legal research institute will be established within the 
University and the library will be upgraded.

The spokesman said that the Judicial Reform Commission would be directly 
responsible for the full implementation of all elements of the programme. 
Representatives of the Commission, UNAMA and UNDP, as well as the Italian 
Embassy - charged with guiding judicial reform efforts last year by the 
Afghan Administration - will make up the project's steering committee, and 
have a primary role in raising and managing the funds for the reform.

The announcement of the joint project follows the international conference 
on Reform of the Afghan Justice System held in Rome last December. 
Conference participants pledged some $30 million dollars and declared their 
commitment to help the Afghan Administration and the Commission restore the 
country's judicial system and the rule of law.