Press Release

Supreme Court Opens 2008 Stage Judicial Training Program

Supreme Court inducts 183 judicial candidates into the 25th Stage Judicial Training Program.

Kabul, Afghanistan  | Saturday, May 10, 2008

On May 10, the Supreme Court inducted 183 judicial candidates into the 25th Stage Judicial Training Program at Kabul Polytechnic University.  These judicial candidates, graduates of Law and Sharia faculties and madrassas from across Afghanistan, will train for the next 36 weeks to become the next generation of judges.

Attending the opening ceremony were Supreme Court Justices Aziz Aziz, Mohammad Omar Babrakzai, Mallawi Qasim and Zamen Ali Behsoudi, as well as the Director General of Administration Dr. Abdul Malik Kamawi and the Supreme Court’s head of administration, Mohammad Qasim Halimi.

Based on the results of the entrance exam that 1,300 students took in February, 183 judicial candidates, including 17 women, were selected by the Supreme Court for the training program. Their educational background includes 82 Law graduates, 94 Sharia graduates, and six madrassa graduates.

As part of their training, candidates will complete standard law coursework including  civil, penal, and commercial law, as well as seminars on human rights, anti-corruption law, constitutional and religious law.  Students will also complete classes on the roles and responsibilities of the courts, judges, and prosecutors.

The USAID-funded Afghanistan Rule of Law Project, in agreement with the Supreme Court and its Stage implementation partners International Development Law Organization/Italy, the French International Institute for Comparative Studies, and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative International Law, will help support the program by providing course materials, training assistance, classroom furniture, and the candidates’ per diem allowances through the end of September 2008. USAID will also provide computer classes, English classes using textbooks developed specifically for the Stage legal coursework, and copies of the second edition Judicial Reference Law Set, a USAID-published compendium of those laws most often used by judges.