Contract No. DFD-1-00-04-00170-00

Checchi and Company Consulting, Inc.

USAID/DCHA/DG

FIFTEENTH QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE MONITORING REPORT

For the Period April 1 to June 30, 2008

Submitted on August 6, 2008, by James L. Agee Chief of Party Afghanistan Rule of Law Project House #959, Street #6 Taimani Watt Kabul, Afghanistan Mobile: +93.798.197.505 Email: jagee@arolp.org Internet: www.checchiconsulting.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction..............................................................................................................................................1

Major Highlights of the Quarter............................................................................................................1 Programmatic Trends and Constraints................................................................................................2

Component 1.A Support for Court Administration....................................................................................3 Component 1.B&C Legal Education ........................................................................................................8 Component 1.D Support for Judicial training .........................................................................................11 Component 1.E Support for Commercial Court Reform.........................................................................16 Component 2: Law Reform and Legislative Drafting..............................................................................18 Component 3: Access to Justice/Informal Sector ..................................................................................24 Component 4. Human Rights and Women’s Rights under Islam...........................................................27

INTRODUCTION The contract between Checchi and Company Consulting, Inc. (Checchi) and USAID/DCHA/DG for the Afghanistan Rule of Law Project (ARoLP) was signed on September 28, 2004, and its implementation began on October 1, 2004. ARoLP supports the Afghan Justice Sector Institutions with assistance in areas of: 1) strengthening court systems and the education of legal personnel; 2) law reform and legislative drafting; 3) access to justice/informal sector; 4) support for commercial court reform; and 5) human rights and women’s rights under Islam. MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE QUARTER • Concluded the 2007 Stage Judicial Training Program and assisted the Supreme Court in

opening the 2008 Stage. • Published and distributed decisions taken during the November 2007 Conference of Chief

Judges to all judges in Afghanistan • To date, 181 courts in 20 provinces have implemented the Afghanistan Court

Administration System (ACAS). • Conducted one women’s rights under Islam training for 30 judges attending ARoLPs

Foundation Training Program in Kabul in April; two separate trainings for 72 judges attending ARoLP’s ACAS rollout training in Herat in May; two separate trainings for 88 judges attending an ACAS training in Mazar-i-Sharif in May and June; and one training for 27 judges attending a Foundation Training in Mazar-i-Sharif in June.

• Created 12 faculty working committees at seven universities to work on the new core curriculum for law and Sharia faculties.

• Assisted the Supreme Court in efforts to document all court organizational structures, terms of reference and job descriptions as part of the Independent Civil Service Reform Commission’s mandated Priority Restructuring Reform process.

• INLTC’s law library now houses 2,200 hardcopy volumes in English, French, Arabic, Dari and Pashto languages.

• Held six public discussions on women’s rights and child rights issues in Bamyan, Kabul, Paktya, and Parwan provinces for 163 participants, including 82 women.

• Helped organize a Program Oversight Committee for the World Bank’s Afghan Justice Sector Reform Project.

• Completed a new policy on the enforcement of civil case judgments. • Organized a major public outreach campaign in Kapisa, Panjshir, Parwan, and Wardak

provinces. • Developed and organized a 36-hour criminal justice program for judges from districts

targeted by the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan’s Focused District Development training program.

• Organized two study tours for senior Supreme Court officials to the International Association for Court Administration Annual Meeting in Ireland and to Colorado to meet with representatives from federal and Colorado state courts.

• Five legislative drafters—including two women—participated in a ten-day legislative-drafting training at the International Law Institute in Washington, D.C.

• Graduated 62 sitting judges—including one woman—from the 20th and 21st Foundation Training programs in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, respectively.

• Began work on Afghanistan’s first complete collection of laws dating back to 1920.

1

PROGRAMMATIC TRENDS AND CONSTRAINTS Despite increasing security risks and budget cuts, the USAID-funded Afghanistan Rule of Law Project has continued to successfully implement its justice-sector reform activities beyond Kabul and in the provinces. The Afghanistan Court Administration System (ACAS) rollout program continued, with a total 451 judges and 665 court administrators in 181 courts from 20 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces trained in ACAS as of June 30, 2008. ARoLP also strengthened its partnership with Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan’s (CSTC-A) Focused District Development (FDD) training program, offering a new, week-long criminal justice program for judges in districts targeted by CSTC-A’s FDD training program. In all ARoLP judicial trainings, participants also receive training on the Regulation of Judicial Conduct and have one-day seminars on women’s rights under Islam. During the quarter ARoLP completed two national women’s rights assessments: a survey on women’s rights under Islam in Afghanistan prepared by the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), and the second, an assessment gauging women’s legal empowerment and access to justice in Afghanistan. Both reports were submitted to USAID. ARoLP also assisted government counterparts in effectively carrying out their own activities and disseminating information beyond Kabul’s city limits. ARoLP published and distributed the decisions made during the November 2007 Conference of Chief Judges to all of Afghanistan’s 1,381 sitting judges. Members of the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) public outreach team also completed twenty days of training on public outreach techniques and on how to use their new ARoLP-provided digital equipment. In Kabul, ARoLP continued to work with the Supreme Court and MoJ to strengthen their capacity to enforce the rule of law throughout Afghanistan. A new regulation, drafted with ARoLP’s assistance was adopted by the Supreme Court in June for enforcing the ethical standards set forth in the Regulation of Judicial Conduct. To date, 781 of Afghanistan’s sitting judges have received training on the meaning and importance of the Regulation; 692 received Regulation training using ARoLP-developed training materials. In May, with ARoLP’s support, the Supreme Court opened its 2008 Stage Judicial Training program at the Kabul Polytechnic University. This year, 202 judicial candidates are enrolled, including 29 female candidates, a 59 percent increase over the number of female candidates enrolled in last year’s Stage. Members of the Hoqooq, whose 374 offices in all 34 provinces are tasked with resolving civil disputes and enforcing civil court judgments, will soon benefit from a new national Afghan policy on the enforcement of judgments. ARoLP has also completed the initial draft of a new Hoqooq policy and procedures manual, which once approved by the MoJ, will provide Hoqooq staff members with important guidance on the Hoqooq’s operations. While ARoLP successfully focused on extending its activities beyond Kabul to Afghanistan’s provinces, security remained a major obstacle. In May and June, U.S. and NATO military deaths surpassed U.S. military deaths in Iraq, while civilian casualties continue to mount. Direct threats against the government, foreign workers and Afghans working with foreigners continue, while the general Afghan population continues to struggle with soaring food prices.

2

The project, while working to help Afghanistan’s justice sector meet high international standards of openness, fairness and transparency, continues to adjust its activities to meet the on-the-ground realities of Afghanistan’s decimated infrastructure. For example, helping to improve Afghanistan's conservative and isolated legal education system has proved challenging on many levels and the quality of education remains low at the country’s five major provincial universities. This was demonstrated in the February 2008 entrance exam to the Supreme Court’s Stage Judicial Training Program, where only 205 of the 1,150 test-takers—or 18 percent—received a passing score of 66 percent or above. ARoLP believes this is due largely to the fact that universities have not yet developed or adopted the newly agreed-upon core curriculum, and current curricula taught in law and Sharia faculties fail to address serious gaps in students’ legal knowledge. The test results also showed that, of those who sat for the February 2008 entrance exam, the worst-performing test-takers were madrassa graduates, who receive very little legal training as part of their education. ARoLP continues to work with 12 faculty working committees throughout the country to develop syllabi and teaching materials for the 11 core courses making up the new core curriculum, which will be required learning for all law and Sharia students interested in legal professions. Despite these challenges, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRoA) and ARoLP are making progress toward improving the rule of law in Afghanistan in cooperation with other international donors. With assistance from ARoLP and cooperation from the Supreme Court, the World Bank is laying the groundwork for implementing justice-sector reforms financed by the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), made up of pledges from a number of donors at the June 2007 Rome Conference on the Rule of Law. COMPONENT 1.A SUPPORT FOR COURT ADMINISTRATION

AR 5: New National Court Administration System Implemented

Description Baseline As of September 30, 2006

FY2007 Total Cumulative Total From October 1, 2007

FY 2008 Target

Indicator 1: Adoption of ACAS by Supreme Court

NO YES YES N/A

Indicator 2: Number of courts using ACAS

0 0 181 392

Progress Toward Activity Results Indicator 1: ACAS was adopted by the Supreme Court on September 25, 2007. Indicator 2: ARoLP continued to work closely with the Supreme Court on rolling out the ACAS system nationally. During the quarter, 229 judges and 244 court administrators from Badghis, Balkh, Farah, Faryab, Helmand, Herat, Jawzjan, Kandahar, Nimruz, Samangan, Sar-i-Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan, and Zabul and received ACAS training. To date, 451 judges and 665 court administrators from 181 courts in 20 provinces have received training in the new case-management system. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints we will not reach our FY2008 target of rolling out the ACAS system. With an extension of the project and

3

additional funding promised, we do expect to be able to meet this goal by the end of calendar year 2008. While ARoLP was unable to train mentor courts in the southern provinces due to security restrictions, the project was able to train mentor courts in Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif. Since these courts have substantial workloads, court administrative and operational personnel from surrounding districts and provinces were able to receive hands-on ACAS experience working with actual cases. ARoLP will continue the mentor court process for the remaining ACAS trainings, with the exception of those provinces in the Southeast where security remains a problem. Description of Activities Mentor Courts Provide Hands-on ACAS Training in Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif ARoLP continued its mentor court rollout model to train courts in 10 provinces during the quarter. Mentor courts in Herat trained judges and court administrators from Herat, Farah, Badghis and Nimruz provinces, while courts in Mazar-i-Sharif trained judges and administrators from Balkh, Jawzjan, Samangan, Sar-i-Pul, Faryab and Takhar provinces. The mentor courts are typically busy urban primary and appeals courts with heavy caseloads. These courts receive intensive ACAS training in preparation for their mentoring role in future ACAS trainings for the administrators of the smaller appeals and district level courts in their region. During ACAS training sessions, court administrators visit the mentor courts, where they receive hands-on case-management training while also helping to relieve the mentor courts’ caseloads.

Numbers represent the number of courts where judges and clerks have received ACAS training and materials, including file shelves, file jackets, index drawers, etc) were delivered.

4

ARoLP Assists Supreme Court in Reforming Staffing Structure As part of the Independent Civil Service Reform Commission’s (IARCSC) mandated Priority Restructuring Reform (PRR) process, the Supreme Court has undergone an organizational review, with the help of ARoLP, which will ultimately result in a new, merit-based pay and grade system for the court’s non-judicial personnel. Working with the Supreme Court’s PRR Advisory Committee, ARoLP completed system-wide court organization charts, terms of references, and achievements and challenges reports for all Supreme Court departments, as well as for Kabul and provincial courts. Government ministries and organizations, like the Supreme Court, that complete the PRR process will eventually receive subsidies paid by the Afghan government and foreign donors to meet the higher level of salaries established under the new pay and grade systems. The Supreme Court’s PRR proposal will be submitted to the IARCSC in July. Once approved, the Supreme Court will begin implementing its PRR plan.

The Supreme Court-appointed Priority Restructuring Reform committee, shown here, is working on a new

pay and grade system for its non-judicial employees to streamline the court’s processes and to make its employees eligible for increased, donor-subsidized salaries.

Supreme Court Officials Attend Dublin Court Administration Conference ARoLP led a study tour for six senior Supreme Court officials to the International Association for Court Administration Annual Meeting in Dublin, Ireland. The study tour participants included Justice Ghulam Nabi Nawaei, chairperson of the court’s commercial division; Justice Mohammad Omar Babrakzai, chairperson of the public security division and court administration liaison; Judge Mohammad Zaman Sangari, judicial adviser to the Supreme Court’s criminal division; Judge Shamsurahman Shams, judicial adviser to the court’s public security division; Judge Mullah Mohammad, judicial adviser to the court’s civil division; and Mr. Mohammad Sarwar Bahez, who serves as head of the Office of the documentation and liaison section of the Supreme Court’s Office of the Chief Justice. The three-day conference focused on international court administration issues, including issues specifically applicable to Afghanistan’s courts, such as case-load analysis techniques, court administration best practice, judicial case assignment systems, justice initiatives in countries “torn by civil turmoil,” and case-management practices. The conference also focused on issues related to large-scale transitions from manual to automated court-administration systems. A seventh Supreme Court official, Justice Abdurashid Rashed, chief of the court’s public security division, sat on an international judicial panel discussing justice in post-conflict countries.

5

Afghan Justices and Court Staff Complete Court Administration Study Tour From May 23 to June 2, 2008, six of Afghanistan’s top court administrators and one Supreme Court justice participated in an ARoLP-organized study tour to Denver, Colorado, where they visited federal and state courts and met with representatives from the Denver University Law School. The tour, which included Supreme Court Justice Abdurashid Rashed, as well as six Supreme Court administrative officials—Abdul Wakil Omari, head of the Supreme Court publications department; Mohammad Omar Momand, head of the judicial inspections department; Mohammad Yaqub Zareen Khail, head of the department of personnel; Mohammad Sadiq Jubail, also from the publications department; Mohammad Raqib Shirzad, assistant director of the Office of the Chief Justice; and Abdul Basir Mustaghfer, executive assistant to the director of general administration for the judiciary—included meetings with the chief judge and judges of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and judges and clerks of the Colorado District and Bankruptcy Courts, as well as the chief justice and senior HR staff of the Colorado Supreme Court.

Six senior Afghan court administrators, as well as one Supreme Court justice, traveled with the USAID Afghanistan Rule of Law Project to Colorado, where they met with federal and state trial and appellate

courts and officials of the University of Denver Law School. During their visits to Colorado’s courts, the members of the Afghan delegation were introduced to U.S. federal and state court administrative systems—systems that have overcome many of the same management barriers now being faced by Afghanistan’s own court system, as the Supreme Court continues to develop and mature. Among the features of U.S. court systems that participants found to be of particular interest were the following: state and federal jurisdiction; discretionary appellate jurisdiction; alternatives to incarceration, including probation; judicial and non-judicial personnel performance evaluation, including a court employee code of conduct; and establishment of judicial code of conduct enforcement mechanisms independent of the judicial branch but staffed by judicial branch personnel. Forum Created for Integrated Justice Sector Information-Sharing System ARoLP began working with a new forum to develop a framework for improved information-sharing among criminal justice system agencies. The forum includes ARoLP’s international and national counterparts working on Afghan justice sector reform, including JSSP, CSSP, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and CSTC-A. An integrated justice sector information-sharing system would ensure that each component of the formal justice system would have the information it

6

needed to conduct its work in the most transparent and efficient way possible. AROLP has provided draft terms of reference and guiding principles for participating organizations. Key Events for Next Quarter • ACAS implemented in five more provinces. • Working with the Supreme Court, a committee will be formed to review the ACAS

implementation process. • PRR proposal for non-judicial staff approved by the Supreme Council and IARCSC. • Approval of Supreme Court AJSRP requests, including the request for 78 new vehicles,

$200,000 in security facility construction, and at least $400,000 in new equipment. • Supreme Court proposal submitted to the Embassy of Japan for a new Supreme Court

building. • Establish a new Supreme Court facilities advisory committee. • ID cards provided to all judges and non-judicial staff in Afghanistan. • Supreme Court IT network assessment completed. • Plans for the development of an integrated justice information-sharing system approved

by donor and counterpart representatives. Summary of Component Training and Workshops Date Title Agencies Involved Number of Participants

March to April

ACAS orientation and training

Judges and staff from courts in the following provinces: Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan, Kandahar

39

April ACAS orientation and training Judges and staff from courts in Herat

71

April Study Tour IACA Ireland Supreme Court 6 May Study Tour to Colorado Supreme Court 7 May ACAS orientation and training Judges and staff from

courts in the following provinces: Herat, Bagdhis, Farah, Nimruz Balkh, Jawzjan, Samangan, Sar-i-Pul and Faryab

307

June to July ACAS orientation and training Judges and staff from courts in the following provinces: Balkh, Jawzjan, Samangan, Sar-i-Pul and Faryab

79

7

COMPONENT 1.B&C LEGAL EDUCATION AR 5: Formal Legal Education Strengthened

Description Baseline As of September 30, 2006

FY2007 Total Cumulative Total From October 1, 2007

FY 2008 Target

1. Number of syllabi developed and being taught

0 0 1 6*

2. Competency test mechanism in place No No No Yes

3. Number of articles in Law Journal

11 21 31† 40

Progress Toward Activity Results

Indicator 1: The overarching aim in creating new syllabi for the 11 agreed-upon core courses that makes up Afghanistan’s new core curriculum for all law and Sharia university students is to both standardize content at Afghan universities and introduce new teaching techniques that promote participatory and interactive learning. In addition to the new Commercial Law course syllabus that is already being taught to third-year law and Sharia classes at Kabul University, revised syllabi for the core Introduction to Law and Constitutional Law courses will soon be adopted by both Kabul and Al Biruni University Faculties of Law and Political Science. ARoLP has also assigned faculty working committees to develop syllabi and teaching materials for the courses on Human Rights Law and Family Law, as well as a teaching module on criminalistics that will be part of a larger core course on Criminal Law. Once these syllabi and teaching materials are adopted by Kabul University and endorsed by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), they will become standard courses for every law and Sharia faculty in the country. ARoLP expects six new syllabi will be adopted by Kabul University and endorsed by the MoHE by the end of December 2008 and will be taught by law and Sharia faculties by early 2009. Indicator 2: The Advocates’ law that was signed by President Karzai in November 2007 came into force on March 17, 2008, with provisions for a national bar association. The Independent Afghanistan Bar Association (IABA), once established, will be tasked with developing a national standard of competence for all those wishing to become licensed advocates. The first general IABA meeting will take place in July to approve the association’s by-laws, establish administrative organs and elect leaders. ARoLP has been working with the International Bar Association (IBA) to advise the MoJ and prospective IABA on setting up * In the second quarterly report, ARoLP revised its FY2008 target for “number of syllabi developed and being taught” from 8 to 4 because of budget cuts. Some of these funds have been returned to ARoLP’s budget, allowing ARoLP to bring in an international curriculum adviser during the fourth quarter. Because of the budget increase and the arrival of an international curriculum adviser, ARoLP has again revised its FY2008 target for this indicator to 6 syllabi. † In ARoLP’s second quarterly report, it was erroneously reported that 40 articles had been published in Kabul University’s Law Journal. To date, 31 articles haven been published.

8

an IABA Committee on National Bar Examinations that would be responsible for determining requisite qualifications and standards for becoming a licensed advocate in Afghanistan. ARoLP will work with the IABA to design a new competency test mechanism, drawing on two years’ experience preparing the Supreme Court’s Stage entrance examination and assessing these exam results. Indicator 3: Fifteen scholarly articles, written by members of law and Sharia faculties across the country, have been approved by the Kabul University Law Journal’s editorial board for publication in the forthcoming issue of the law journal, due out in August 2008. The fourth issue of the journal had originally been scheduled for publication in June 2008 but was delayed because the editorial board wished to include ARoLP’s analysis of the 2008 Supreme Court Stage Judicial Training Program’s entrance examination results. A fifth issue of the Kabul University Law Journal is on schedule for publication in September 2008, with an additional ten scholarly articles. Together, the pending fourth and fifth issues will bring the cumulative total of articles published in the journal with ARoLP’s assistance to 56. Description of Activities New Core Curriculum Takes Shape Since a new national core curriculum was adopted by nearly 100 educators, scholars and jurists from across the country during the January National Core Curriculum Conference, significant progress has been made toward developing syllabi and teaching materials for five of the 11 agreed-upon core courses. Twelve faculty working committees—one for each of the five participating law faculties, six Sharia faculties and one combined law and Sharia faculty ARoLP is working with—were designated to work on core course development at Al Biruni, Balkh, Herat, Kabul, Khost, Nangarhar and Takhar Universities. Each course has also been assigned a subject-matter expert from one of the provincial universities to lead faculty working committees, which will be responsible for including new interactive techniques in the syllabi and teaching materials, such as the inclusion of case studies, hypotheticals, role playing and small group activities. Faculty working committees have begun developing materials for core courses on Constitutional Law, Introduction to Law, Commercial Law, Family Law, Human Rights Law and a teaching module on criminalistics that will become part of the core course on Criminal Law. ARoLP plans to finalize these syllabi and teaching materials in the fourth quarter.

Fifteen professors of law and Sharia discuss the development of a core course on Human Rights Law.

9

Stage 2008 Entrance Exam Performance Analyzed; Results Remain Low ARoLP completed an analysis of participants' performance in the February 2008 entrance exam to the Supreme Court's Stage Judicial Training Program. The analysis showed that overall performance was still very poor, with only 205 of the 1,150 test-takers receiving a score of 66 percent or above. ARoLP believes this is due largely to the fact that universities have not yet developed or adopted the newly agreed-upon core curriculum and current curricula taught in law and Sharia faculties fail to address serious gaps in students’ legal knowledge. The test results also showed that, of those who sat for the February 2008 exam, the worst-performing test-takers were madrassa graduates, who receive very little legal training as part of their education. ARoLP's analysis has been translated from English into Dari and will be published in the next edition of the Kabul University Law Journal. Key Events for the Next Quarter • Finalize syllabi and teaching materials for core curriculum courses on Introduction to

Law, Afghan Constitutional Law, Commercial Law, Human Rights Law, Family Law and Professional Responsibility and Ethics for Lawyers, as well as a teaching module on criminalistics.

• Submit new syllabi and teaching materials to the MoHE for endorsement. • Establish model instructional space to provide trainings on interactive teaching

techniques to law and Sharia professors. • Continue legal English courses at Al Biruni, Balkh, Herat, and Kabul Universities. Summary of Component Trainings and Workshops

Date Title Agencies Involved Number of Participants

May to September 2008 Computer Training

Al Biruni University Faculty of Law and Sharia

15

October 2007 to September 2008 ESL Course

Professors at Kabul, Herat, Balkh and Al Biruni Universities

65

March 2007 to September 2008 Legal English

Third and fourth year law students at Kabul, Balkh, Herat, and Al Biruni universities

632

10

COMPONENT 1.D SUPPORT FOR JUDICIAL TRAINING AR 3: Opportunities to Improve Judicial Professionalism and Improve Skills

Description Baseline As of September 30, 2006

FY2007 Total Cumulative Total From October 1, 2007

FY 2008 Target

1. Code of judicial conduct adopted No Yes N/A N/A

2. Number of judicial training hours offered 404‡ 239 457 144

Progress Toward Activity Results

Indicator 1: To fight endemic judicial corruption, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court supported the adoption by the court of a modern code of judicial conduct. The Chief Justice appointed a Judicial Conduct and Ethics Working Group, supported by ARoLP, to draft a code for adoption by the court and on June 19, 2007, the Supreme Court adopted the Regulation of Judicial Conduct for the Judges of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Regulation, prepared by the working group, is a modern code of conduct containing universally recognized ethical standards to govern the conduct of judges. ARoLP completed work on a focused training course to put Afghan judges on notice of the Regulation’s standards and to train them on their meaning and importance as the first step toward its implementation. Since the adoption of the Regulation, 781 of Afghanistan’s 1,381§ sitting judges—including 202 of the 205 graduates from the 2007 Stage class that recently received judicial appointments by the President—have received training on the Regulation. Of those, 692 were trained using ARoLP’s focused training course materials. Indicator 2: ARoLP’s goal is to increase the number of hours of judicial training course offerings over the offerings developed in FY2007 by 144 hours, primarily through the development of focused training courses on various subjects. These courses have been developed for ARoLP and other judicial-training programs, as well as for the Supreme Court, which ARoLP hopes will use the materials as part of a sustainable continuing judicial education program. During the third quarter, the Supreme Court reviewed and approved ARoLP’s courses developed in the second quarter on Afghan Constitutional Law, the Work of the Judge, Legal Research, and Commercial Law. These courses have been translated into Dari and Pashto and, at the time of writing, were being formatted for publication. ARoLP added, during the third quarter, two more focused training courses on Commercial Procedure (24 hours) and Criminal Procedure (24 hours), which, once approved by the Supreme Court, will also be translated and published for use in future judicial training programs. Courses in Criminal Law and Family Law are under development. ‡ Previous quarterly reports gave the September 2006 baseline as “0,” which did not include the baseline 404 judicial training hours that were already developed and being taught when ARoLP began tracking this indicator in FY2007. § Total number of judges according to the Supreme Court judicial personnel database, updated on July 20, 2008. This figure is subject to change as the database is updated to account for judicial turnover.

11

Description of Activities Mechanism for Enforcing Regulation of Judicial Conduct Adopted On June 10, 2008, the Supreme Council of the Supreme Court adopted a regulation for disciplining judges. The regulation represents a long and concerted effort by the Chief Justice-appointed working group assigned to work—with technical assistance from ARoLP—on developing a modern mechanism for enforcing the new Regulation of Judicial Conduct. The goal had been to adopt an enforcement mechanism that is in-line with internationally accepted standards, making room for the inclusion of a citizen complaint procedure, requirements for confidential investigations to determine probable cause, public hearings in cases where probably cause has been determined, and due process rights for judges alleged to have committed violations against the Regulation of Judicial Conduct. And, after months of detailed discussions with ARoLP, the Supreme Court’s working group completed a draft regulation that met these standards and submitted it to the Supreme Council. In the end, the Supreme Council adopted a regulation that makes it clear the Supreme Court intends to enforce the ethical standards set forth in the Regulation of Judicial Conduct. The new regulation provides for an initial confidential investigation to determine whether there is a sufficient basis to proceed with a hearing and does not prohibit citizen complaints. However, the Council deleted those articles in the working group’s draft regulation that establish a citizen complaint procedure, that require a public hearing in cases where probable cause has been determined, and that specify the due process rights of accused judges. ARoLP expects that the working group will meet in August to discuss the possibility of bringing the enforcement regulation back to the Supreme Council for reconsideration. Classes Begin at 2008 Stage Judicial Training Program Following the May 10, 2008, opening ceremony, classes began for 202 judicial candidates—including 29 women—enrolled in this year’s Stage Judicial Training Program, the Stage, held at the newly refurbished Kabul Polytechnic University. The campus facilities were repaired with funds provided by the French government and furnished by USAID and includes four large and several small classrooms, as well as offices for the Supreme Court and the Stage’s two implementing partners through September 2008, ARoLP and IDLO.

Two hundred and two Faculty of Law and Sharia and madrassa graduates—including 29 women— are

enrolled in this year’s Supreme Court training program for future judges.

12

The candidates, who passed the February 2008 entrance examination and were approved by the Supreme Court, come from Badakhshan (14), Badghis (5), Baghlan (11), Balkh (3), Bamyan (6), Daykundi (3), Farah (3), Ghazni (7), Ghor (3), Helmand (2), Herat (36), Kabul (36), Kandahar (1), Kapisa (9), Kunduz (2), Laghman (5), Logar (8), Nangarhar (9), Nuristan (2), Parwan (17), Samangan (2), Sar-i-Pul (1), Takhar (7), and Wardak (10) provinces. As part of their core training in legal subjects, ARoLP is also providing legal English classes to all judicial candidates and to six Supreme Court Stage administrators. Twelve of the 14 classes for judicial candidates are held for one hour and 45 minutes every Saturday, while two classes are held for 90 minutes twice-weekly for higher-level English speakers. Stage administrators’ legal English classes are held four times per week for 90 minutes. Foundation Training Program Draws Close to Completion Since August 2005, ARoLP has been offering month-long intensive skills trainings to sitting judges who did not receive Stage training. This Foundation Training Program covers core subjects, including penal law and criminal procedure, commercial law and commercial procedure, civil law and civil procedure, and Afghan constitutional law, as well as instruction on the Regulation of Judicial Conduct—using course materials prepared by ARoLP—women’s issues and legal research techniques. During this quarter, ARoLP graduated two classes of Foundation Training participants. The first, Foundation Training 20, was held in Kabul for 31 judges—including one woman—from Bamyan, Daykundi, Ghazni, Kabul, Khost, Nangarhar, Paktya, Panjshir, Parwan, and Wardak Provinces. The second, Foundation Training 21, was held at the UNODC Justice Support Center on the grounds of the Balkh Court of Appeals in Mazar-i-Sharif. Thirty-one judges from Balkh, Faryab, Jawzjan, Samangan, Sar-i-Pul, and Takhar provinces graduated from the Mazar training. All 62 judges received their own copies of ARoLP’s second edition Judicial Reference Set. The final two Foundation Training programs are planned for July and October 2008 to ensure all remaining eligible judges are trained before the end of the year.

Thirty-one judges from Afghanistan’s northern provinces graduated from ARoLP’s 21st Foundation

Training Program, held in Mazar-i-Sharif.

13

First Criminal Justice Program for Judges Offered ARoLP’s first Criminal Justice Program for judges was offered from May 5 to 11, 2008, in Herat. In coordination with the CSTC-A’s FDD training program, ARoLP will be offering these concentrated, week-long programs to judges from FDD districts, while JSSP will train prosecutors from those districts. The Herat training included judges from the Adraskan (2) and Shindand (1) districts in Herat province and Bala Murghap (2) district from Badghis. A detailed, 36-hour course outline was prepared and includes seminars delivered by Afghan judges and professors on subjects such as Afghan constitutional law; general principles of penal law; private penal law; special criminal laws, such as anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and corruption, counter-narcotics, and crimes against internal and external security; police law; criminal procedure law; and principles of a fair trial. The next rounds of criminal justice trainings are tentatively scheduled to take place in Kabul in September and November for the remaining judges from all FDD districts.

Five judges from districts targeted by the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-

A)’s Focused District Development (FDD) training program participated in ARoLP’s first criminal justice training program for judges in Herat.

Second Round of ARoLP Training of Trainers Program Held ARoLP, in conjunction with IDLO Afghanistan, completed the second phase of the second round of trainings for judges who were chosen for their ability to teach future Supreme Court-sponsored continuing judicial education programs. The training, which was held from June 2 to 5, 2008, included 10 judges, of which three were women, from Balkh, Herat, Kabul, Kunar and Laghman provinces. Twenty judges in total have been trained during this second round of ARoLP and IDLO’s Training of Trainers Program. Another 19 judges were trained in December 2007. To date, judges who have graduated from the two rounds of Training of Trainers trainings have taught as instructors or co-instructors in ARoLP’s 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Foundation Training Programs and during ARoLP’s Criminal Justice Program for judges in Herat last month. Conference of Chief Judges Decisions Distributed Nationally In November 2007, 200 senior judges, including 34 provincial chief judges, met in Kabul for the Supreme Court-sponsored Conference of Chief Judges. The five-day conference, which received technical and financial support from ARoLP, was designed, in part, to resolve legal and administrative questions submitted to the Supreme Court from Afghanistan’s provincial courts. Five committees of judges discussed questions received from the provincial courts,

14

and, by the end of the conference, the judges agreed on “decisions” for more than 300 questions. These “decisions” were subsequently approved by the Supreme Court and published with ARoLP’s support. During the quarter, ARoLP worked with the Supreme Court to distribute the decision collections to all judges throughout the country to help guide them in their day-to-day work. Key Events for Next Quarter • Reconsideration by the Supreme Council of a modern mechanism for enforcing the

Regulation of Judicial Conduct. • Completion of the 22nd and 23rd Foundation Training Programs. • One Criminal Justice Program conducted for judges in FDD districts. • Focused judicial training courses on Penal Law and Family Law approved. • Publication of all focused judicial training courses. • Distribution to all judges of three bench books, one containing resources and course

materials on the Regulation of Judicial Conduct, Afghan Constitutional Law, the Work of the Judge, and Legal Research; a second bench book containing resources and course materials on Commercial Law and Commercial Procedure; and a third book containing resources and course materials on Penal Law and Criminal Procedure.

Summary of Component Training and Workshops

Date Title Agencies Involved Number of Participants

April to May 20th Foundation Judicial Staff 31

May to June 21st Foundation Judicial Staff 31

May Criminal Justice Program Judicial Staff 5

May to June Stage Legal English Training Judicial Candidates 205

June Stage Legal English Training Supreme Court Administrators 6

15

COMPONENT 1.E SUPPORT FOR COMMERCIAL COURT REFORM AR 6: Foundation for Effective Resolution of Commercial Disputes in Place

Description Baseline As of September 30, 2006

FY2007 Total Cumulative Total From October 1, 2007

FY 2008 Target

1. National policy on enforcement developed

No No Yes Yes

2. Supreme Court clarifies jurisdiction of commercial courts

No Yes No Yes

3. Number of judicial training hours offered to commercial court judges

0 197 197 197

Progress Toward Activity Results

Indicator 1: ARoLP successfully assisted the IRoA in its drafting of a national policy for the reform and modernization of how civil judgments are enforced in Afghanistan. According to ARoLP’s Performance Monitoring Plan, this indicator will be considered completed when a finalized draft national policy on the enforcement of judgments is sent to the IRoA’s Council of Ministers for review. Because the IRoA will likely enact the new Law on Acquisition of Rights—which reflects the new enforcements policy—by executive order, the Council of Ministers may not have an opportunity to review the new policy. Therefore, because it is likely that the Council of Ministers may not be given the chance to consider or approve the draft national enforcements policy, ARoLP considers this deliverable to be successfully completed, since the policy has been transmitted to the MoJ. Indicator 2: ARoLP continued to have difficulties convincing the Supreme Court of the importance of clarifying the jurisdiction of commercial courts, largely due to the Supreme Court’s preoccupation with other issues, such as the abovementioned World Bank AJSRP. The court failed to include ARoLP-suggested amendments to its recently circulated amendments to the Law on the Organization and Jurisdiction of the Courts. ARoLP does not expect that the Supreme Court will clarify the jurisdiction of the commercial courts in the short-term. ARoLP still plans to engage the Afghanistan Supreme Court and others on this issue until the project’s completion at the end of September 2008. Indicator 3: No new judicial training hours were offered to commercial court judges during the quarter and no new training programs will be developed for the remainder of the program. Unfortunately, plans for future Commercial Law Training Programs, including another training program planned for Balkh province this spring, were cancelled during the second quarter due to lack of funds.

16

Description of Activities National Policy Modernizing the Enforcement of Judgments Completed With ARoLP assistance, the IRoA completed a draft national Afghan policy on the enforcement of judgments. The IRoA will refer to the policy as it drafts a new law on the enforcement of civil judgments, replacing the current Law on Acquisition of Rights. The policy represents months of consensus-building among Afghan government stakeholders, including the MoJ, MoI, the Office of the President, and the judiciary at a series of three roundtables organized and funded by ARoLP. The final draft policy includes input from all these groups and was submitted to the MoJ in June 2008 for final review. The policy clarifies the exclusive jurisdiction of the Hoqooq to enforce judgments; updates and enlarges the types of assets that can be levied against debtors; authorizes the Hoqooq to compel debtors to appear before it and provide information about their assets; authorizes the freezing and seizure of assets to satisfy court judgments; and reduces the fees charged by the Afghan government for the enforcement of judgments. Draft of a New Law on Acquisition of Rights Completed At the MoJ’s request, ARoLP, with assistance from JSSP, completed an initial draft of a new Law on Acquisition of Rights. The draft law implements the newly drafted national policy on the enforcement of judgments and meets international best practices in its enforcement and administration. A final draft will be completed and transmitted to the MoJ for review and comment by early September 2008. According to the Minister of Justice, it is likely the new law will be enacted through executive order during the summer of 2008 while the National Assembly is in recess. As a result, the new policy may not be sent to the Council of Ministers, which may be asked to consider only the new Law on Acquisition of Rights. New Hoqooq Policy and Procedures Manual to Guide Professional Operations ARoLP also completed an initial draft of a new policy and procedures manual for the Hoqooq that will provide professional Hoqooq staff members important information on Hoqooq operations. The manual, which includes important forms and procedures for enforcing civil judgments and resolving disputes, has been designed so that the MoJ can easily update it to reflect any applicable changes in the law. The manual was submitted to the MoJ for review and ARoLP expects the manual to be completed, printed and a first round of 400 copies distributed to Hoqooq staff before the end of September 2008. Key Events for Next Quarter • Finalized new Law on Acquisition of Rights. • Hoqooq policy and procedures manual approved and printed.

17

COMPONENT 2: LAW REFORM AND LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING AR 8: Legislative Process Improved

Description Baseline As of September 30, 2006

FY2007 Total Cumulative Total From October 1, 2007

FY 2008 Target

1. Number of draft laws sent to the Office of Administrative Affairs by Taqnin

N/A 49 33 45

2. Number of agencies with members trained in legislative drafting

1 6 6 0

3. Number of entities distributing Afghan laws, regulations, legal information

1 8 13 10

Progress Toward Activity Results Indicator 1: Note: ARoLP’s legislative Adviser resigned at the end of this quarter. ARoLP continued to assist the MoJ in improving its legislative process by working with the Taqnin to meet the benchmarks set out in the MoJ’s 1386 legislative agenda. However, during the quarter, the MoJ’s Law Reform Technical Working Group, of which ARoLP is a member, did not call a meeting to provide donors with an update on the Taqnin’s legislative progress. The Taqnin told ARoLP that 10 legislative documents were prepared and sent to the Council of Ministers, via the OAA. Indicator 2: Because of the interest shown in providing legislative-drafting training to the Taqnin and others by the U.S. Department of State and the Canadian government, ARoLP will not be pursuing any in-country legislative drafting training in FY2008. This decision is reflected in ARoLP’s approved FY2008 Work Plan. However, ARoLP organized a study tour for five legislative drafters from the Taqnin on an advanced legislative-drafting training program in the United States in June. This study tour to Washington, D.C., is described in further detail below. Indicator 3: ARoLP’s distribution of 3,100 copies of the second edition of the Judicial Reference is complete, except for courts in Helmand, for which ARoLP has received an offer of help from the British Embassy to deliver the sets in July. ARoLP continued distributing print and electronic copies of Afghanistan’s laws to judges, via ARoLP trainings, and to other donors and the military upon request. At ARoLP trainings during the third quarter, 365 Judicial Reference Sets (JRS) and 10 Official Gazette DVDs were distributed to judges, judicial candidates and MoJ staff attending Hoqooq roundtables, Foundation Trainings, ToT programs and the Stage. Thirty-seven Judicial Reference Sets were distributed to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the legal department of the Ministry of Commerce, the Kapisa province prosecutor’s office, the Afghan Election Commission, Kabul primary courts and to the President’s Office of Administrative Affairs. One JRS set each was

18

also distributed to the Taqnin and the deputy director of the Taqnin, as well as to the following MoJ departments: Legal Research and Studies; Commercial and Economic Laws; Human Rights and International Public Laws; Criminal Laws; Labor and Administration Laws; Civil Laws; Sub-directorate of Laws Statistics and Classification; and Private Sector Laws. ARoLP also distributed one JRS set to the department of legal and dispute resolution at Da Afghanistan Bank and ten JRS hardcopy sets, 10 JRS sets on CD-ROM and 10 Official Gazettes on DVD to the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan. ARoLP also provided USAID’s Capacity Development Program with a list of laws, decrees and regulations passed since 2002 in both Dari and English languages. Hardcopy and CD versions of the JRS sets and one DVD copy of the Official Gazette was sent to the Canadian Forces’ Legal Mentor, while soft and hard copies of the Afghan Traffic Law were delivered to the German Armed Forces Technical Advisory Group. ARoLP also delivered, via USAID, three JRS sets, three DVDs with the entire Official Gazette, and one full set of public outreach materials to the Ghor provincial reconstruction team. Dari and Pashto copies of the 2004 Interim Civil Procedure Code and 1987 Internal and External Security Code were sent to Human Rights First in New York, and one hardcopy JRS set, one JRS set on CD, and one Official Gazette DVD to the Library of Congress’s Islamabad Office ARoLP continues to receive requests from other organizations for soft-copy versions of ARoLP’s collections of laws for their own printing purposes. During the quarter, the U.S. Navy Police Legal Affairs Department received 12 copies of the Judicial Reference Set in hardcopy and 12 DVDs with the complete Official Gazette for distribution to prosecutors in Farah province. The project also provided formatting and printing assistance to legal advisers with the U.S. Navy, which plans to re-publish 400 copies of the second edition of JRS sets for Task Force Cincinnatus. Finally, ARoLP also compiled a list of 50 legal texts in Dari, Pashto and English for the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) 101 and JSSP, who are planning to jointly build a law library in Ghazni province. Description of Activities Afghan Legislative Drafters Receive Intensive Training in Washington, D.C. From June 16 to 27, 2008, five senior Afghan legislative drafters—including two women—participated in ten days of intensive training with the International Law Institute in Washington, D.C., as part of an ARoLP-organized study tour. Their training included coursework on issues such as principles of legislative drafting and legislative language, implementing treaties through domestic legislation and drafting legislative forms.

Six Afghan legislative-drafters participated in a ten-day study tour to Washington, D.C., where they

received intensive training at the International Law Institute.

ARoLP complemented class lessons with a number of meetings on the Hill that included sit-downs with Dr. Allan Burman, former administrator of the U.S. Office of Federal

19

Procurement Policy; Douglas Bellis of the Congressional Office of Legislative Counsel; Frank Burke, former head of the Senate Office of Legislative Counsel; and with the Office of the Federal Register, which provides public access to official texts of federal laws, presidential documents and administrative regulations and notices. The Afghan delegation also met with representatives from the offices of Representatives Betty McCollum (D-MN), Steve Israel (D-NY) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), who co-chairs the Congressional U.S.-Afghan caucus.

The study tour also included meetings with a number of members of the U.S. House of Representatives,

including Representative Keith Ellison (DFL-MN). USAID Washington Delegation Visits INLTC Law Library Mark Ward, acting assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Asia bureau, visited the new law library at the Independent Legal Training Center (INLTC) on the campus of Kabul University in April. Deputy Minister of Justice and INLTC board member Qasim Hashimzai led a tour of the training center and its new law library, which will be ready to open later this year.

The new INLTC law library, designed, built, equipped and staffed by ARoLP, will be Afghanistan’s first

depository library with over 5,000 legal volumes in Dari and Pashto.

Library Director Shir Shah Amiri introduced the library’s three other staff members, and described the collection’s holdings, which now includes 2,200 volumes recommended by Kabul University’s law faculties, the MoJ and the Supreme Court. Amiri also briefed Ward on the library’s other features, including four public access terminals open to patron use for searching the library’s catalog, the Official Gazette on DVD and the Internet. Ward was also invited to observe the library’s head of reference as he led a legal-research training for Kabul University professors of Sharia, teaching them to search for laws using the Official Gazette DVD.

20

Mark Ward, acting assistant administrator for the USAID’s Asia bureau (standing, center), said he was

happy to see USAID making investments in legal research in Afghanistan. Here, he observes a legal research class for Kabul University Sharia professors, taught by INLTC law library’s head of reference.

U.S. Library of Congress Field Director Visits Kabul, Offers Trainings Dr. Carol Mitchell, field director for the U.S. Library of Congress office in Islamabad, visited Kabul in May to acquire Afghan legal resources for the world’s largest library and to connect with Afghan librarians from government, university and donor libraries. As part of her week-long visit to Afghanistan that included yet another high-profile visit to the INLTC, Dr. Mitchell conducted four training seminars for the 15 Afghan librarians working with parliament, the INLTC, Kabul University’s main library, law library and Sharia library, as well as with the MoJ and Supreme Court. The classes, which were held at the parliamentary library and the INLTC law library, included discussions on new library technology, information management and how to develop and improve reference services. Mary Nell Bryant, Information Resource Officer for the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Information Programs, accompanied Dr. Mitchell, complementing training sessions with website demonstrations that serve her past and present research experience at the Library of Congress and U.S. Department of State. The trainings by Dr. Mitchell and Ms. Bryant also included presentations by ARoLP staff on the online searchable Official Gazette database, available on the MoJ website.

Dr. Carol Michell of the U.S. Library of Congress' Islamabad Office visited Afghanistan's Supreme Court

library as part of her week-long tour of libraries in Afghanistan.

Dr. Mitchell, before returning to Islamabad, received her own copy of the Official Gazette on DVD, containing all of Afghanistan’s laws passed since 1964 in electronic format, as well as hardcopy and electronic copies of the second edition of the ARoLP-published Judicial Reference Set, a 17-volume collection of those laws most often used by judges. The Library of Congress, which received the 86-volume hardcopy Official Gazette from ARoLP last year,

21

also received a collection of all of ARoLP’s legal awareness public outreach materials on CD for its international collection.

Mitchell also offered four training sessions to 15 Afghan librarians from parliament, the Supreme Court,

the MoJ, and the Independent National Legal Training Center. Afghan Laws from 1920 to 1964 To Be Collected and Published Following on ARoLP’s successful collection and publication of the Official Gazette, the MoJ’s Publications Department requested ARoLP’s assistance with collecting and publishing—in both electronic and hardcopy format—all existing Afghan laws passed since 1920. A complete set of all three of Afghanistan’s major legal collections—the Official Gazette, which includes laws passed from 1963 to present day; the Osolnamas, which includes laws passed from 1930 to 1963; and the Nezamnamas, which includes laws passed from 1920 to 1929—does not currently exist today. To create Afghanistan’s first complete collection of laws dating back to 1920, ARoLP has first set out to fill the gaps in its collection of older, pre-1963 laws, working closely with the MoJ and the Kabul Public Library. For nearly two weeks, ARoLP publications staff worked scanning hundreds of pages of legal texts—some of which are in danger of disintegrating beyond recognition—into electronic files.

Pages of a law from the Osolnamas in great need of archival care. ARoLP staff is "saving" the book by

scanning its pages into digital format. With most missing volumes and pages scanned at the library, ARoLP staff have begun typing, proofreading and formatting the text so that that the electronic copies can be forwarded to the MoJ on CD and DVD. While some pages are still missing, the MoJ has offered to help ARoLP work with the National Archives to identify what gaps can be filled by the archive's collection.

22

A number of completed Osolnamas have already been submitted to the MoJ and ARoLP will continue to submit newly digitized Osolnamas to the MoJ as they are completed. Eventually, the MoJ plans to publish selections of these laws, in collaboration with JSSP and the World Bank. Meanwhile, ARoLP continues with its plans to publish at least 100 more complete sets of the Official Gazette in hard copy by the end of September 2008.

ARoLP has been working at the Kabul Public Library, shown here, to find missing sections of the

Osolnamas and Nezamnamas, collections of Afghan laws published between 1920 and 1963. Legal Research Trainings Included in ARoLP Judicial Trainings New legal research trainings led by the library staff of the Independent National Legal Training Center (INLTC) law library have now become an integral part of ARoLP’s trainings for judges across the country. In April, INLTC law librarians conducted a legal research training workshop for judges from Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul provinces attending ACAS training sessions in Kabul. A similar training was held for judges from Bamyan, Daykundi, Ghazni, Kabul, Khost, Nangarhar, Paktya, Panjshir, Parwan, and Wardak Provinces in Kabul for ARoLP’s 20th Foundation Training Program in May. The course included hands-on legal research techniques using print and web Afghan legal resources, such as the Official Gazette, the MoJ and Supreme Court websites, and ARoLP’s own online collection of laws and regulations, AfghanistanTranslation.com. Key Events for the Next Quarter • Officially open the law library at the INLTC. • Continue formatting Official Gazette issues for printing in September 2008. • Continue collecting and digitizing laws from the Osolnamas and Nezamnamas. • Begin final edits of Dari-Pashto Legal Dictionary team’s terms in preparation for

publishing the volume in Dari and Pashto by November 2008. • Continue distribution of remaining copies of the second edition Judicial Reference Sets. Summary of Component Trainings and Workshops

Date Title Agencies Involved Number of Participants October 2007 to September 2008 Legal English Ministry of Justice 8

23

COMPONENT 3: ACCESS TO JUSTICE/INFORMAL SECTOR

AR 2: Appropriate Sector for Resolving Disputes

Description Baseline As of September 30, 2006

FY2007 Total Cumulative Total From October 1, 2007

FY 2008 Target

1. National policy on informal justice sector developed

No No No

Yes

2. Change in public attitudes toward the formal justice sector, based on the percentage of Asia Foundation survey respondents who said they went to state courts to resolve disputes

20.1% 46% 46% 21.8%

Progress Toward Activity Results Indicator 1: At the MoJ’s request, ARoLP drafted a national policy options paper on the informal justice sector in late FY2007. The goal is for the MoJ to develop an informal justice policy statement that defines the authority and jurisdiction of the informal justice sector as an alternative venue for dispute settlement, working alongside the formal justice system. The policy would also encompass ways in which the informal justice sector can support the formal justice system. In November, ARoLP submitted its draft policy options paper on the state’s relations with the informal justice sector to the MoJ for its review. The paper was based on substantial research and consultation with government officials and other justice-sector stakeholders and is intended to provide recommendations to the government as it moves forward in developing its own official policy on the subject. The MoJ has reviewed the policy options paper and agreed with much of its content, sharing it with Supreme Court Chief Justice Azimi. At the MoJ‘s request, ARoLP drafted a two-page summary of the policy options paper and submitted it to the Supreme Court for written approval. ARoLP plans to take the policy paper, once approved by, to the provinces for review by local stakeholders in the formal and informal justice sectors. That feedback will eventually be incorporated into the government’s final policy recommendations. This activity was suspended due to budget cuts during the second quarter. During the third quarter, ARoLP’s budgetary restrictions were eased, though the project is awaiting input from other donors counterparts before it takes further action on developing an informal justice policy statement with its IRoA counterparts. Because of these delays, it is unlikely the policy will be adopted this year, but significant progress will have been made in finalizing the policy. Indicator 2: According to the 2007 Asia Foundation Survey report, 46 percent of Afghans who could not resolve a dispute on their own turned to the formal justice sector, up from 21.1 percent reported in the 2006 survey. As more and more Afghans turn to the formal justice

24

sector for help, ARoLP continues to produce and disseminate public outreach materials to educate citizens on the roles of the formal and informal justice sectors in Afghanistan. To raise Afghans’ legal awareness, ARoLP printed and disseminated 2,904 CDs with radio and television spots, talk shows, dramas, quiz shows and animated cartoons; 21 sets of 15 CDs with all ARoLP public outreach materials; 45,387 comic book sets; 35,045 pamphlets; 15,771 bumper stickers; and 4,376 pocket constitutions in Ghazni, Kabul, Kapisa, Panjshir, Parwan and Wardak provinces. ARoLP also printed and distributed 18,695 publications with women’s rights-related messages, including calendars for the year 1387, newsletters and brochures to Balkh, Bamyan, Herat, Kabul, Paktya and Parwan provinces. ARoLP’s radio and television programs with legal awareness and women’s rights messages have also been broadcast and materials distributed by 32 ARoLP-supported community cultural centers in Panjshir, Parwan, Kapisa and Wardak provinces. Provincial reconstruction teams also distributed ARoLP legal awareness public outreach materials in Faryab, Paktya, Khost, Zabul, and Nangarhar provinces. Description of Activities MoJ Receives Public Outreach Training Ten members of the MoJ’s public outreach team have completed a twenty-day training on public outreach techniques and on how to use the new digital equipment ARoLP gave them in early 2008, including computers, video cameras, projectors, and mini disks. The training was designed to help the MoJ’s team better carry out its own civic education activities. The Ministry of Justice said it plans to use its new equipment to broadcast its audiovisual materials on the justice sector in different parts of Kabul, while its two magazines, the monthly Legal Awareness magazine on legal aid and Justice Magazine for legal professionals, will get a facelift with its new computers and digital cameras.

The MoJ received new digital equipment and training for carrying out national informational campaigns

on the justice sector. ARoLP Carries Out Massive Public Outreach Campaign to Centers During the quarter, ARoLP also printed and began distributing 164,000 comic book sets; 64,000 pamphlets; 32,000 bumper stickers; and 16,000 CDs to 32 ARoLP-supported community cultural centers in four provinces, who then distributed the materials to elementary schools and at community events.

25

ARoLP distributed 2,200 pocket constitutions, among thousands of other public outreach materials, to

Afghans in Kabul, Faryab, Parwan and Panjshir provinces in June. Nearly Three-Quarters of Open Cases Closed with ILF-A Assistance Since early 2008, when the the International Legal Foundation in Afghanistan (ILF-A), entered into a partnership with ARoLP to provide legal defense to indigent clients in five provinces, 151 criminal defendants have been represented. The nonprofit legal aid organization, under a subcontract with ARoLP, has set up five new offices in Badghis, Baghlan, Bamyan, Paktya, and Sar-i-Pul provinces. Seventy-one percent of the cases brought by ILF-A attorneys working in these offices have been acquitted. With 20 acquittals and eight dismissals on their record to date, ILF-A’s performance compares well with criminal legal defense providers in the United States and elsewhere. Key Events for the Next Quarter • Organize dialogues between formal and informal justice actors on draft informal justice

policy in Panjshir, Parwan, Kapisa and Wardak provinces. • Reprint and distribute 30,000 comic books sets in conjunction with U.S. PRTs in

Afghanistan. • Assist in the production of three TV spots on women rights under Islam. • Complete distribution 100,000 comic book sets and 20,000 pocket constitutions

nationally via provincial reconstruction teams and community cultural centers. Summary of Component Training and Workshops Date Title Agencies Involved Number of Participants April Public Outreach and Digital

Equipment Training Ministry of Justice 11

26

COMPONENT 4. HUMAN RIGHTS AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS UNDER ISLAM AR 1: Knowledge of Women’s Rights in Islam Increased

Indicator Baseline As of September 06

FY 2007 Total Cumulative From October 1, 2007

FY 2008 Target

Kab

ul

Prov

ince

s

Kab

ul

Prov

ince

s

Kab

ul

Prov

ince

s

Kab

ul

Prov

ince

s

1. Number of dialogue events

0 0 26 41 32 89 22 175**

2. Public attitudes on women’s rights changed, based on the percentage of Asia Foundation survey respondents who answered positively on questions about women’s rights

85% 83% 83% 85%

Progress toward Activity Results Indicator 1: Over the course of the quarter, ARoLP organized four dialogue events in Kabul and 17 in the provinces in order to raise awareness of women’s rights in Afghanistan, to introduce Afghan opinion leaders to progressive interpretations of women’s rights under Islam, and to highlight Afghan customs and traditions that are discriminatory toward women. In May, ARoLP held a one-day public discourse in Kabul on the issue of marriage registration and marriage certificates (Nekahnaama) with Medica Mondiale. Medica Mondiale provided participants with information on the registration procedure and ARoLP’s women’s rights consultative group members led a discussion on marriage registration and certificates from the perspective of Islamic religious law, or Sharia. After a discussion over the issue of consent in marriage, participants agreed that marriage certificates and registration will help tackle the issue of forced and child marriages in Afghanistan. They also suggested that a national awareness-raising program would encourage more people to register their marriages. ARoLP’s consultative group members also recommended ways in which the marriage certificate could be improved. ARoLP continued its series of one-day seminars on women’s rights under Islam with graduate students of law, Sharia and journalism. One such seminar was held for 62 graduate students—including two women—at Al Biruni University in Kapisa province. Students there told ARoLP they had never before been involved in such open discussions about women’s rights and asked that such seminars be conducted regularly on campus. ARoLP also held one-day seminars for 123 graduate students—including 63 women—at Herat University and for 102 graduate students—including 20 women—at Balkh University. In general, the students ** In the first quarter of FY2008, ARoLP’s subcontractor, IFES reevaluated its program capabilities and increased its FY2008 target number from 65 provincial dialogue events to 175. However, due to second-quarter budget cuts, IFES ended its activities four months early and will not meet its FY2008 goal.

27

in Herat, where women participated in equal numbers as men, were more receptive to the moderate interpretations of women’s rights under Islam ARoLP presented than the students at Balkh University, where the more conservative Sharia students participated actively. Two half-day seminars on women’s rights under Islam were also held for 66 graduate students—including 15 women—from Kabul University’s faculties of law and Sharia. During the quarter, ARoLP also began integrating one-day trainings on women’s rights under Islam into all of its judicial trainings throughout the country. One such training was held for 38 judges attending the ACAS training program in Mazar-i-Sharif, where ARoLP’s women’s rights consultative group argued against some of the more conservative judges’ views that there is no such thing as gender equality because women are created inferior to men. The younger judges, however, supported the interpretations of ARoLP’s consultative group members, who, quoting verse 70 Surah Isra from the Quran—“We have bestowed dignity on the children of Adam”— said “children” means both men and women. Two more one-day seminars were organized for 50 judges attending later phases of the Mazar-i-Sharif ACAS training. A separate one-day seminar on women’s rights was organized for the 27 judges attending ARoLP’s Foundation Training program in Mazar-i-Sharif. Two more one-day seminars were held for 72 judges—including two women—attending ARoLP’s ACAS training in Herat. The discussions covered issues such as the dignity of both men and women, marriage, women in the judiciary and Afghan customs and traditions from an Islamic perspective. While in Herat, ARoLP broadcast a one-hour roundtable on women’s rights on Radio Killid-Heart. In Bamyan, ARoLP held a four-day public discussion on women’s rights and child rights for 93 participants, including 39 women. The participating teachers, government officials, mullahs, Imams, community elders, university instructors, and students participated in discussions led by ARoLP’s consultative group members, who mediated a particularly lively discussion on issues of women’s rights to education and inheritance. While in Bamyan, ARoLP’s consultative group members also broadcast a one-hour live call-in radio show on Radio Bamyan. Indicator 2: Increasing knowledge of women’s rights in Islam is essential to altering the customs and traditions that restrict the rights of Afghan women. According to a 2007 survey by The Asia Foundation, 83% of Afghan respondents agreed that women should have equal opportunities to men in education; that women should be allowed to work outside the home; that women and men should have equal rights, including the right to vote; and that women must vote for themselves in elections. Still, there remains a gap in Afghanistan between what people say about women’s rights and how women are treated on a daily basis. As a continuation of its efforts to encourage broader and more moderate perspectives of gender relations in Afghanistan, ARoLP has promoted progressive interpretations of Islamic law by conducting public discussions and roundtables, detailed above, and national print and broadcast campaigns to raise awareness of women’s rights under Islam. For example, in addition to the two radio shows broadcast in Herat and Bamyan, ARoLP hosted two, nationally broadcast live call-in shows in Dari and Pashto on the tradition of Khaastgari, or marriage proposals, from an Islamic perspective on Radio Killid and Radio Good Evening Afghanistan. ARoLP consultative group members discussed how, in many parts of Afghanistan, it is common for parents to offer their infant boys and girls for marriage, for

28

unborn babies to be promised in engagement by parents; and for parents to give up daughters as child brides. The panelists argued that these practices are against Islam. ARoLP, as part of it’s women’s rights outreach activities, also developed scripts for three new, five-minute television spots highlighting the harassment of women in public; families’ reactions to the birth of a girl child; and Khaastgari, the custom of taking a Quran to a woman’s house in order to force her family to accept a marriage offer. These spots will be completed and broadcast during the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, ARoLP’s former subcontractor, IFES, produced two public service announcements, one on women’s right to Mahr (dowry) and the other focusing on the physical, psychological and social consequences of child marriage. IFES also printed and distributed 22,500 copies of five new brochures on women’s rights issues, including women’s right to an education, marriage practices, the issue of Mahr, a woman’s right to a public life and issues concerning polygamy and widows’ rights. Description of Activities Two National Women’s Rights Assessments Completed ARoLP completed its national survey on women’s rights and Islam in Afghanistan and submitted it to USAID. The report, prepared by the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), represents four months of work conducting more than 1,500 interviews with Afghans from 23 provinces. The report aims to assess the differences between Islamic teachings and existing religious-cultural traditions and customs in Afghanistan as they relate to women’s rights. In May, ARoLP also completed its national assessment of women’s legal empowerment and access to justice in Afghanistan. The report provides information on challenges women face accessing justice in the formal and informal justice systems, women’s prospects as students of law and as legal professionals, and the activities conducted by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and nongovernmental organizations to improve women’s legal empowerment and access to justice, among other issues. The report was submitted to USAID on June 2, 2008.

Heads of the Jalalabad City Family Court with one of ARoLP’s authors of an assessment of women’s legal

empowerment and access to justice in Afghanistan.

29

Center for Islamic and Cultural Studies Recognized for Women’s Rights Work In a June 17, 2008, ceremony, ARoLP recognized the Kabul-based Center for Islamic and Cultural Studies for its work to promote women’s rights under Islam. For the past sixteen months, five members of the center, Afghanistan’s premier Islamic research institution reporting to the Office of the President, have worked closely with ARoLP, crisscrossing the country leading more than fifty seminars and public discussions on women’s rights under Islam with mullahs, teachers, government officials, judges and civil society representatives. Working with ARoLP, the Center on Islamic and Cultural Studies’ members have also conducted scholarly research on progressive interpretations of women’s rights under Islam and hired three female researchers to the Department of Islamic Studies. ARoLP provided the Center for Islamic and Cultural Studies—which was established in 1993 under the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan—with four new computers, two printers, a scanner, photocopier, multimedia projector and other digital equipment. In addition to the digital equipment, ARoLP also provided the Center with a new generator, computer desks and chairs, and other supplies.

ARoLP provided computers and office equipment to the Center for Islamic and Cultural Studies,

Afghanistan’s premier Islamic research institution, for its efforts to promote and protect women’s rights.

In his remarks thanking ARoLP, Mr. Abdul Wali Basirat, the head of the Center for Islamic and Cultural Center said, “by providing us with this equipment you have enabled us to hold conferences and seminars and present our research and studies in a professional manner.” During the quarter, 16 staff members of the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan and ARoLP women’s rights consultative group members graduated from six months of legal English classes offered three times per week by ARoLP. Subcontract with IFES Completed The subcontract between ARoLP and IFES and the Afghan Civil Society Forum came to an end in May, due to ARoLP budget cuts. All provincial activities planned for June through September have been cancelled. The subcontract between ARoLP and IFES and its partner, the Afghan Civil Society Form, signed in July 2007. Since then, the IFES/ACSF women’s rights under Islam program has implemented numerous activities and built positive and practical relationships with stakeholders across the country. By the end of the subcontract, a considerable number of

30

committed advocates—women and men—supported the IFES/ACSF program and its efforts to promote women's rights under Islam. Key Events for the Next Quarter • Hold a two-day national conference with some 100 participations from across the

country. • Hold a public discussion on domestic violence from an Islamic perspective. • Produce three television Spots on highlighting the traditions of marriage proposals,

engagement of unborn babies by parents, and the harassment of women in public. • Facilitate five roundtables on different women’s rights-related issues on radio and

television stations. • Broadcast women’s rights spots on various radio and television stations. Summary of Component Training and Workshops Date Title Agencies Involved Number of Participants

April 2 Seminar for high school teachers in Paktya

High school teachers, department of education staff

15

April 3 Public discussion on women’s rights/child rights in Paktya.

Mullahs, local shura members, AIHRC, civil society

59

April 6 Seminar for high school teachers in Parwan

High schools teachers, department of education staff

9

April 7 Public discussion on women’s rights/child rights in Parwan

Mullahs, local shura members, civil society

58

April 22 Public discourse on Women’s Rights under Islam in Kabul

Judges from Foundation training

30

April 27 Public discussion on women’s rights/child rights in Bamyan

Mullahs, local shura members, civil society

25

April 28 Seminar for high school teachers in Bamyan

High school teachers, department of education staff

25

May 4 Public discourse on Women’s Rights under Islam in Herat

Judges from ACAS 47

May 11 Public discourse on Women’s Rights under Islam in Herat

Judges from ACAS 25

May 12 Seminar on Women’s Rights under Islam, Herat University

Law, Sharia and Journalism students

60

May 15 Public discussion on Marriage registration/Certificate in Kabul

Department of Religious Verdicts, Center for Islamic and Cultural Studies, Supreme Court, AIHRC, Medica Mondiale.

22

May 17 Seminar on Women’s Rights under Islam, Al Biruni University, Parwan

Law, Sharia and Journalism students

62

May 24 Seminar on Women’s Rights under Islam, Kabul University

Law and Sharia students 33

May 28 Public discourse on Women’s Judges from ACAS 38

31

Date Title Agencies Involved Number of Participants

Rights under Islam in Balkh

May 29 Seminar on Women’s Rights under Islam, Balkh University.

Law, Sharia and Journalism students

50

May 31 Seminar on Women’s Rights under Islam, Kabul University

Law and Sharia students 33

June 3 Public discourse on Women’s Rights under Islam in Balkh

Judges from ACAS 50

June 4 Public discourse on Women’s Rights under Islam in Balkh

Judges from Foundation training

27

June 5 Seminar on Women’s Rights under Islam, Balkh University.

Law, Sharia and Journalism students

60

June 21 and22 Public discussion on women’s rights/child rights in Bamyan

Mullahs, teachers, local shura members, AIHRC, civil society

33

June 26 Seminar on Women’s Rights under Islam, Herat University.

Law, Sharia and Journalism students

66

32