The Ministry of Justice held a conference on Monday to discuss the draft law on conflict resolution in the jirgas. At the conference, the Minister of Justice described Afghanistan as a traditional country with jirgas and stressed on the fact that to prevent injustice, we have no choice but to legalize jirgas.
Justice Minister Fazal Ahmad Manawi said at the conference that to prevent injustice in society, limits and principles should be set for these jirgas. He emphasized that the jirgas also have a special place in Islamic law.
He added that in a country where people live in masses, it is not possible to prevent jirgas. He also pointed to the importance and position of jirgas in the Qur’an and hadiths and said that there is a great emphasis on peace and resolving disputes through the jirga there. “Opposition to the jirgas is opposition to sharia,” the justice minister said. “The jirga is not a sin in terms of sharia, but a virtue.”
He stated that completing the draft law on resolving disputes in the jirgas is one of his responsibilities in the Ministry of Justice and said that the implementation of this law will be one of the honors of his work at the Ministry. Manawi said that the quick resolution of disputes, especially civil disputes in the jirgas, the right to go to court if justice is not provided in the jirgas, resolving the roots of issues and other issues are among the advantages of the jirgas.
Members of the Jirga Dispute Resolution Law Draft Conference (the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, the Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution, the Independent Human Rights Commission, UNAMA and the German Cooperation Office) are scheduled to review all articles of the draft law in two working days and share their corrective views on it.
