Afghanistan

Afghanistan has seen one of the most prominent state-building efforts in recent decades, as significant time and resources were invested in efforts to build a legitimate government apparatus that would rule by democratic consent. After the withdrawal of the international military presence from the country and the rupture of transnational aid flows, Afghanistan faces a sudden displacement of one state-building endeavour by another. The dissolution of the Islamic Republic’s government under President Ashraf Ghani and the ascent to power of the Taliban mark a political rupture as much as a turning point in Afghanistan’s legal development. While many anticipated a swift unravelling of previous reforms and the restoration of policies witnessed in earlier years of Taliban rule, the new powerholders are confronted with a society unevenly transformed by the last two decades. The new rulers have inherited a changed country and state structures that all but lend themselves to a simple reversion back to past modes of governance. With the Constitution of 2004 effectively abolished, the announced constitution-making process is just one of many areas of law held in suspense, from the statutes to be applied to cases before state-run courts to the delicate recalibration of state, religious and traditional authority in law.

• Afghanistan and the Rule of Law after 2021: Legal and Social Developments