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The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has solidified a radical restructuring of the nation's justice system, marking a definitive return to public executions and corporal punishment as primary tools of enforcement. Since regaining control, the leadership has systematically dismantled the previous legal infrastructure, replacing it with a system based on a strict and summary interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence that prioritizes speed over established judicial procedures.
According to reports from voanews.com, the new judicial approach is defined by the removal of prosecutors and professional judges, who have been replaced largely by Taliban members lacking formal legal training. In this expedited system, verdicts are often delivered during a defendant's first appearance, with no prosecutors available to investigate crimes or present facts to a court. The Taliban leadership argues that eliminating "bureaucratic red tape" has allowed them to resolve hundreds of thousands of backlogged cases, a speed they contrast with the sluggishness of the former government.
However, international observers have raised significant alarm regarding the lack of due process and fair trial standards. In a comprehensive review, state.gov notes that the 2004 constitution was suspended, effectively eroding the independence of the judiciary. The U.S. State Department highlights credible reports of arbitrary killings and the enforcement of court-ordered corporal punishment, including public floggings and stonings. Critics argue that the absence of written laws and procedural defense mechanisms leaves verdicts open to varying interpretations and abuse by local commanders.
The legal landscape was further tightened with the ratification of the "Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" law. As detailed by info-res.org, this legislation codified severe restrictions on personal conduct and granted broad powers to morality inspectors to detain individuals with limited judicial oversight. The law specifically targets marginalized groups and imposes strict behavioral restrictions on women, who have been completely excluded from the judicial workforce. While the Taliban maintains these measures are their sovereign right, the United Nations continues to condemn the trend as a violation of international human rights conventions.
