February 1, 2003	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 28, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: Deep factional divisions in war-shattered Afghanistan have blocked a planned rebuilding of the country’s judicial system destroyed by 23 years of conflict, according to an international think-tank.

But the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report the situation could be remedied by President Hamid Karzai’s transitional government with the support of international community.

One of the steps proposed by the report, released by the group’s office in Islamabad, was the removal of an aging chief justice who it said had expanded his Supreme Court to as many as 137 judges in a takeover of the judicial system by hardliners.

“Afghanistan’s legal system has collapsed,” the report said, adding: “Never strong to begin with, it has been nearly destroyed by 23 years of conflict and misrule.”

It said there were “deep divisions” between those favouring a very conservative interpretation of Islamic law and those who wanted to revive the more progressive ideas of the 1964 constitution that was revived through the December 2001 Bonn agreement of Afghan factions that set up the Karzai government.

LITTLE ACHIEVEMENT: But it said a judicial commission as well as a human rights commission and a civil service commissions set up under the Bonn plan as a channel for international technical and financial assistance had so far achieved little.

“While the international community has dithered on judicial development, the factions within the transitional administration that control judiciary have moved swiftly to promote their interests,” the report said.

It said Karzai’s re-appointment of Fazl Hadi Shinwari, believed to be in his 80s, as chief justice was a surprise to many as the constitution required that the holder of this office should be under 60 and be educated in all sources of Afghan law, religious and secular.

Shinwari, who does not have formal training in secular sources of law and is an ally of the fundamentalist former guerilla commander Abdurrab Rasul Sayyaf, was initially named chief justice by former president Burhanuddin Rabbani in December 2001 after the collapse of the Taliban government but before Karzai took office.

The ICG said Shinwari had “rapidly placed political allies in key positions, even expanding the number of judges from nine to 137.” In Pakistan, the total sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court judges is 17. “Of the 36 (Afghan) Supreme Court judges whose educational qualifications are known, not one has a degree in secular law,” it said.