The activities of the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law and its predecessor working group in Afghanistan date back to 2005, when its legal researchers first embarked on initiatives to support local reforms for good governance and the rule of law. Over the years, they addressed a broad range of legal issues in collaboration with senior Afghan legal experts, fostering beneficial relations with government departments as much as with local organisations, connecting lawyers, judges, academics, and other professionals in Afghanistan and beyond.

In 2022, the Max Planck Foundation launched the Afghanistan Legal Research Network (ALRN) which brings together both Afghan and international legal practitioners and academics from around the globe, united by an interest in legal developments in Afghanistan. To this day, the ALRN hosts notable researchers, office holders and analysts who share their insights and submit them to critical discussion. Whether online or in person, its dense event schedule has allowed participants to speak and be heard, to engage and network with each other, and to learn and make a difference.

The ALRN supports legal research in a variety of formats, including a series of public webinars, expert working groups, conferences and publications. Its monthly Afghanistan Legal Developments reports have traced the trajectories of constitutionalism, human rights and international law since 2021.

ALRN Webinar Series (2025) 

The ALRN’s flagship programme is its online webinar series, a platform for expert views and discussion with Afghan scholars on pressing issues in Afghan law, politics and society. In 2025, the series will focus on the international legal processes for accountability and transitional justice that undergird efforts to forge a durable peace in Afghanistan.

Joining the ALRN

The ALRN welcomes new contributors and interested participants. New events are regularly announced on the social media channels of the Max Planck Foundation (Bluesky, LinkedIn, X, Mastodon). If you wish to register your interest, suggest a contribution, or simply learn more about the ALRN, please contact .

The Max Planck Foundation and the ALRN are grateful for the support of the German Federal Foreign Office during its inception period, 2022-2024.

The Max Planck Foundation’s Afghanistan team has drafted its Legal Digest series since early 2022. These monthly and bi-monthly briefs ground Afghan rule of law developments in domestic and international legal theory, bringing analytical colour to verified facts.

Proceedings of the Afghanistan Legal Research Network 2022

Stephan F H Ollick

Email:
Phone: +49 (0)6221 91404 58
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Hayley N Evans

Email:
Phone: +49 (0)6221 91404 47
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