Hybrid Forms of Dispute Resolution and Access to Justice in Afghanistan: Conceptual Challenges, Opportunities and Concerns
Date
2015-03
Authors
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Publisher
Hamida Barmaki Organization for the Rule of Law
Abstract
While the growing interest in informal justice is an important step in understanding the
various forms of access to justice in Afghanistan and elsewhere, the conceptual
dichotomy between formal and informal justice misinterprets the actual hybrid nature of
accessing justice that most Afghans experience currently. Hybridity in access to justice,
as opposed to duality, appears on all levels of the justice system from the Constitution to
the resolution of local land disputes. This hybridity helps many gain access to justice
since it makes up for an underdeveloped formal system while offering a system that is
both faster and more flexible than a purely state system. The flexible nature of the
system, however, also raises important concerns about issues such as “forum shopping” –
i.e. the phenomenon of parties of a dispute selecting differing conflict resolution
mechanism thought most likely to produce a favorable result – and the protection of
individual rights. Both academics and policy makers could help improve access to justice
across the population by rethinking the frames that they use to think about how disputes
are being resolved and justice issues are being addressed.
Description
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Working Paper
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Keywords
Justice, Administration of -- Afghanistan., Dispute resolution (Law) -- Afghanistan.