Ashley Jackson

Understanding Taliban judiciary is a crucial yet much understudied topic. If filling the security gap was the main reason TB succeeded in 1990s, then providing an effective judiciary is what legitimised TB in the post-2001 period.

TB strategy post-2001 had been quite simple. Prevent govt institutions from building in as many places as possible. Then, they realised there was an opportunity to build localised dispute settlement mechanisms in lieu of govt to fill these gaps and legitimise their presence.

So why has TB courts proven so successful? Report provides 4 main reasons: 1. Relative accessibilty 2. Relative speed 3. Perceived fairness 4. Religious aura and legitimacy

1. Accessibility: Courts are generally in local vicinity, processes are simply and easy to understand. Pertinent to point out, Hanafi fiqh is widely understood across the country and if you have doubt, just ask your local mullah to confirm if it is according to school of thought

Interestingly, there is no mention of women accessing TB courts for issues regarding family violence or sexual harassment claims. Perhaps this might be because rural AFG still frowns on women for publicizing such issues. Also fear of lack of TB impartiality on these issues?