DATES: July 2012 - January 2014

PARTNERS: Checchi & Company Consulting

 

The Rule of Law Stabilization Program – Informal Justice Sector Component (RLS-I) supports the traditional justice sector and works directly with traditional dispute resolution (TDR) elders and local government and religious stakeholders to foster linkages between the formal and traditional justice systems, increase access to justice, and increase stability through conflict resolution.  The overall objective of the RLS-I Program is to strengthen Afghanistan’s traditional justice sector and align it with the Afghan Constitution in order to safeguard the rights of individuals, particularly women.  Many TDR mechanisms use traditional beliefs and customary practices as the foundation to resolve disputes; these beliefs, however, are against traditional (Sharia) law and violate the rights of individuals.  RLS-I directly addresses this issue and, through a series of trainings and outreach tools, introduces principles of Sharia law to TDR stakeholders to reduce the likelihood of TDR decisions violating the rights of Afghans.