The Ministry of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is in charge of a wide range of the country’s legal affairs, and it works closely with other government ministries, institutions and agencies to ensure that the rule of law in Afghanistan is upheld. It serves as the central liaison between the individual cabinet ministries and the President’s Office and Council of Ministers with respect to many legal-related issues. The Ministry strives to achieve justice for all in the country by building fairer, more credible and more effective justice and legal systems in which social, economic and political affairs and people’s interactions are governed by the rule of law. It helps shape the justice and legal environments in Afghanistan by providing strategic advice to the government on reforms and policies needed to strengthen the rule of law.

According to the Ministry’s operating procedures, among its main duties are the following:

• Drafting and/or reviewing draft laws, presidential decrees and other legal documents.
• Providing comments as to whether international treaties and conventions, as well as foreign commercial agreements to which Afghanistan is a party, are consistent with the country’s official laws, and making recommendations for any needed amendments that might remove identified inconsistencies.
• Seeking the input of cabinet ministries and other government institutions and agencies with respect to draft laws and regulations and inviting experts from the line ministries, other government institutions and agencies, academic institutions and other entities to participate in the law drafting and review process.
• Advising cabinet ministries and other government institutions and agencies on legal affairs.
• Cooperating with cabinet ministries and other government institutions and agencies on issues regarding their related activities and convening meetings to discuss any common issues.
• Defending the financial and other material interests of the government and if necessary, filing petitions against debtors of the government, as well as defending the interests of national government organizations in suits brought before the courts.
• Upholding property rights, labor rights, family rights and other civil rights of the country’s citizens when official complaints are made, and when necessary, taking measures to implement court decisions with respect to civil disputes arising between or among government agencies and institutions, joint private/government entities, and private citizens.
• Adopting measures to improve the activities of the defense attorneys.
• Supporting the education and rehabilitation of children who have violated the law through the operation of juvenile education and rehabilitation centers.
• Publishing the Official Gazette. The Official Gazette includes official announcements of Afghanistan (which require public notification), laws, Parliamentary approvals and certain other documents of a legal nature, legislative decrees, regulations, charters of state-owned enterprises, those approvals of the Council of Ministers of a legal nature, certain contracts, agreements and international conventions that are signed by Afghanistan (and the decrees approving them), legal documents that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to approve and any other legal documents required by the law to be published, as well commercial trademarks and some other commercial announcements.
• Reviewing charters of political parties and social organizations, registering and providing licenses to them, and announcing the date on which their activities may officially begin; and
• Managing and operating all of Afghanistan’s affairs related to prisons and certain other official detention centers.

The Ministry is divided into the following ten departments (click on the name of each for individual department descriptions): 

• Administration (Umomi-idari)
• Government Cases (Qazaya-e-dawlat)
• Inspections (Taftish)
• Juvenile Justice (Markazi-islah-waterbe-ya-i-atfal)
• Law Drafting and Review (Taqnin)
• Office of the Minister (Daftar Muqam)
• Political Parties and Social Organizations(Insijam)
• Publications (Nasharat)
• Prisons  (Umomi-mahabis)
• Rights (Hoquq)

The Ministry of Justice employs over 8,500 people throughout the country, including approximately 425 in its Kabul headquarters. It is currently in the process of restructuring its organization and streamlining operations through the government’s "Priority Restructuring and Reform" Program (click here for a description of that program).

For more information, please search the links on this website or email questions or comments to the Ministry of Justice at info@moj.gov.af