Presentation of Mr. Mohammad Yosuf Haleem, Head of Taqnin(legislation) Department of Ministry of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Consultative Meeting on Obligation of Afghanistan under(ICC)

Salaam, on behalf of the Ministry of Justice I would like to thank from Afghanistan Watch for organizing a joint Consultative Meeting on Obligations of Afghanistan under ICC.

As you know after collapse of the Taliban Regime and establishment of Afghanistan Interim Administration under the Bonn Agreement the 1964 Constitution was adopted. Under this Constitution Afghanistan was obligated to respect all international treaties, covenants and agreements that Afghanistan was a party to. One of the important actions Afghanistan took in this period was the establishment of a justice and judicial reform commission. This commission was tasked to fully reform Afghanistan justice and judicial system.

The first measure adopted by the Commission partnered by the Italian government in the area of reviewing the national laws was to review the 1965 procedural laws of the country. In this process these laws were nullified and the Interim Criminal Procedure Code was enacted. Though, this code is substantially, short and consists of only 96 articles but most of the international criminal provisions are included therein and this law is better than the old procedural laws.

From the organizational point of view, the justice and judicial reform Commission made some changes mainly in the organizational structure of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan. The Commission undertook capacity building programs for judges and prosecutors that lasted for about three years.

When the current Constitution of Afghanistan was approved by representatives of Afghanistan in 2004 in the Constitutional Loya Jirga, different from the old Afghan constitutions, this Constitution places more emphasis on respecting human rights and international treaties. The current constitution better values international covenants and it has allocated two paragraphs for international treaties and covenants. Paragraph 1 of article 7 of the constitution obligates the government of Afghanistan to respect the United Nations Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international covenants and Agreements that Afghanistan is a party to.

The Ministry of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as the legislative body of the government is working to amend Afghan laws in accordance to the new Constitution of the country. This Ministry has so far prepared some new laws such as Law on Elimination of Violence against Women, Law of Campaign against Kidnapping and Human Trafficking and Juvenile Law. In these laws we had the comments of international experts with us and human rights standards and Afghanistan commitments under international covenants have been respected in these laws.

But regarding what specifically have been done so far to adjust the national laws with (ICC) Statute, I would like to say that two important following steps have been taken in this regard:

The first action the Ministry of Justice took in terms of adjusting national laws was to apply the Interim Criminal Procedure Code. The Interim Criminal Procedure Code was rejected by the National Assembly of Afghanistan. Fortunately in the same time Afghanistan ratified (ICC) and it is a good opportunity to adjust the criminal law according to the (ICC) Statute before sending it to the National Assembly for approval.

As you know the Criminal Procedure Law is a procedural law governing the court proceedings. This is very important for us to respect provisions of the Rome Statute regarding war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in this law. This law is almost completed and this draft law is going to be discussed in a workshop that will be held in Vienna, Austria before being sent to the National Assembly for approval. I assume the ICC representative has also been invited to this workshop. And a copy of the draft law has been provided for him. Let us see what will be his/ her feedback.

But regarding the relevant substantive laws, such as Afghanistan Criminal Law, Law governing crimes against Internal and External Security of the Country and Law of Detecting and Investigating Administrative Offences have problems. The government is working to review these laws in the coming years. God willing while reviewing these laws we try our best to include ICC provisions in criminal laws of our country. Of course we need assistances of our justice and judicial partners such as the Supreme Court, Attorney General Office, Ministry of Interior and National Security Department. I hope soon an agreed draft will be prepared.

Using the opportunity, I would like to announce on behalf of the Ministry of Justice that during reviewing of the criminal laws of Afghanistan we will invite Afghanistan Watch as representative of international coalition for ICC and other relevant organizations to share their comments regarding the amended as well as the new drafts.

Once again I would like to extend my gratitude to Afghanistan Watch for organizing such a meeting. I hope the feedback shared by Afghanistan civil institutions and other relevant organs regarding adjustment of criminal laws to match ICC Statute are taken into consideration while reviewing the criminal laws. I also request for further contributions of the civil institutions regarding implementation of ICC in Afghanistan.