Afghan Biographies

Taliban Judicial Structure


Name Taliban Judicial Structure
Ethnic backgr.
Date of birth
Function/Grade Background and Names
History and Biodata

Taliban Judicial Structure

The Taliban has rejected the judicial system of Afghanistan’s previous government as slow, corrupt, and unnecessarily large. But the Taliban won’t be creating a new court system from scratch.

Experts expect Afghanistan’s future judicial structure to be based on the shadow courts the Taliban established across the country during the past two decades — part of a Taliban strategy to undermine Afghan central government institutions.

Like Taliban shadow government posts, the shadow courts loosely mimicked the judicial structure of the internationally backed Afghan government in Kabul. Thus, Taliban trial courts were set up at the district level for both criminal and civil cases.
 

A second tier of provincial courts was created to hear appeals against shadow district court decisions. It also served as a trial court in areas where there were no Taliban district courts.
 

Finally, the Taliban set up a shadow Supreme Court in Pakistan with a mandate to hear appeals against decisions by the Taliban provincial judges.
 

The entire shadow court system was overseen by Mullah Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai — the senior Taliban figure who headed the insurgency’s Judicial Commission and its shadow Supreme Court.

Also known as Abdul Hakim Haqqani (or Abdul Hakim Saheb), the 64-year-old Hakim — who hails from the Maiwand district in Kandahar Province — was announced as the Taliban’s justice minister on September 7.
 

As a friend of the Taliban’s founder and first supreme leader, the late Mullah Mohammad Omar, Hakim played an important role in the creation of the Taliban. He also headed the Taliban’s negotiating team in Doha and is a member of the Taliban leadership council, known as the Quetta Shura.
 

The ultimate authority over Hakim is Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada.

Last Modified 2021-09-09
Established 2021-09-09