they repeatedly say and they are sincere in their feelings, that the taleban control almost 70 percent of afghanistan, not only because of their ferocious method of fighting their enemies, but also because of their ability to settle disputes between people.
their courts, known as sharia, issue verdicts on the same day whatever the nature of the case and the offender does not leave the court before he is beaten and whipped, while similar cases collect dust over the years in government courts.
we do not doubt the good intention and the naiveté of those who resort to this backward type of courts and the method adopted by these courts in settling disputes that cannot be validated, if valid and surely they are not.
t h e s e courts might be used in a certain quality cases and never be suitable for the complexities of everyday life in the civilized countries. the good intention of the supporters of this type of court is mainly due to their bitter experiences with the courts in their respective countries, where cases continue to be postponed for long months and in some cases even years before a final judgement is issued.
people’s longing for justice will not stop. this is one of the necessities of life. humans are different in power, intelligence and knowledge, therefore one may exploit the circumstances of the other and justice does not mean much if it comes too late.
we ask the minister of justice, who seems to be doing much to develop both the ministry of justice and the ministry of awqaf to listen to the voices of those demanding reform in the justice ministry so that the name of this ministry justifies its name.
neither logic nor justice – for example – can accept that a family requests to interdict a parent for fully lacking legal capacity, and the request taking six months for instance to form a medical committee to look into the case, add to this expenses and fees. if this is the case of such a very simple issue, what can be said of cases where the issues are complicated?
the loss of a person’s ability to act puts a dent in all his work who in turn will not be possible to run business, abide by commitments and contracts. the business activity will come to a grinding halt until a provision is made to appoint a guardian, and the more the ruling is delayed, the cases get more complex, and the interests of others gets disrupted.
the work of the ministry of justice is important and dangerous, and the ministry has all the material and technical resources under its hat, since it employs a constellation of the best men and women who are willing to do much to develop it and eliminate public complaints.
the minister does not need to reinvent anything, the reform ideas exist and the default is known. had the reform and development process of the judicial support apparatus, initiated two years ago by the former minister of justice, mr yacoub al-sane, continued, we would have been in a good situation, but it was stopped by those who came after him. i do not know how a minister can stop a serious reform process and do not come up with anything else or better.
in this regard i say, a few days ago i was summoned by the electronic crimes prosecution concerning the article i had published in the e-al-qabas. i was saddened by the poor and miserable condition of the building in maidan hawalli, which is not really suitable for the work of senior professors and most efficient prosecutors.
its design is primitive and bad indeed, its public bathrooms are located in the center of the hall close to the offices of the prosecutors. the humidity has spread to the roofs of the bathrooms, their floors and their entrances. and we wish the distinguished minister consider the suffering of the workers in this vital facility and visitors like us.