The 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan was the supreme law of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which lasted from 2004 - 2021. It served as the

legal framework A legal doctrine is a framework, set of rules, procedural steps, or test, often established through precedent in the common law, through which judgments can be determined in a given legal case. A doctrine comes about when a judge makes a ruling ...

between the

Afghan government The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is a theocracy and an emirate with political powe ...

and the Afghan citizens. Although Afghanistan ( Afghan Empire) was made a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

in 1747 by

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

, the earliest Afghan constitutional movement began during the reign of

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...

in the 1890s followed by the drafting in 1922 of a constitution. The 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan transformed Afghanistan into a modern democracy. The constitution was approved by the consensus in January 2004 after the 2003 loya jirga. The Constitution consists of 162 articles and was officially signed by Hamid Karzai on January 26, 2004. It evolved out of the

Afghan Constitution Commission The Afghan Constitution Commission (or Afghan Constitutional Commission) was established October 5, 2002 as required by the Bonn Agreement, which stipulated that a new Afghan constitution be adopted by a loya jirga. The loya jirga was required to ...

mandated by the Bonn Agreement. The constitution provides for an elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. The transitional government of interim president

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

was put in place after the June 2002 loya jirga. The first

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

after the new constitution was in effect, took place in October 2004, and Karzai was elected to a five-year term. The first elections for the National Assembly were delayed until September 2005. The constitution was essentially abolished on August 15th 2021 with the overthrow and dissolution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan by the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

following the Fall of Kabul.

Eligibility of President

Article 62 of the Constitution of Afghanistan of 2004 states that a candidate for the office of

: *be a Muslim citizen of Afghanistan, born of Afghan parents; *not be a citizen of another country; *be at least forty years old; *not have been convicted of

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

, a criminal act or deprived of civil rights by court; *not have previously served more than two terms as president.

Legislative branch

The

National Assembly of Afghanistan The National Assembly ( ps, , Mili Shura, prs, , Shura-e Milli), also known as the Parliament of Afghanistan or simply as the Afghan Parliament, was the legislature of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. It was effectively dissolved when the ...

consists of two houses: the

Wolesi Jirga The House of Representatives of the People, or Da Afghanistan Wolesi Jirga ( ps, دَ افغانستان ولسي جرګه), was the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, alongside the upper ...

(House of the People) and the

Meshrano Jirga The House of Elders or Mesherano Jirga ( ps, د افغانستان مشرانو جرګه), was the upper house of the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan, alongside the lower House of the People (Wolesi Jirga). It was effectively dis ...

(House of Elders). The Wolesi Jirga, the more powerful house, consists of a maximum of 250 delegates directly elected through a system of single non transferable vote (SNTV). Members are elected on a provincial basis and serve for five years. At least 64 delegates must be women; and ten

Kuchi Kochis or Kuchis (Pashto: کوچۍ Kuchis) are pastoral nomads belonging primarily to the Ghilji Pashtuns. In the southern, western and northern regions of Afghanistan they are also referred to at times as maldar (Pashto: مالدار maldar, ...

nomads were also elected among their peers. The Wolesi Jirga has the primary responsibility for making and ratifying laws and approving the actions of the president and has considerable veto power over senior appointments and policies The Meshrano Jirga will consist of an unspecified number of local dignitaries and experts appointed by provincial councils, district councils, and the president. The president also appoints two representatives of the physically disabled. The lower house passes laws, approve budgets and ratify treaties – all of which will require subsequent approval by the Meshrano Jirga.

Judicial branch and court system

The nation's top court is the Stera Mahkama (Supreme Court). Its members are appointed by the president for 10-year terms. There are also High Courts, Appeals Courts, and local and district courts. Eligible judges can have training in either Islamic jurisprudence or secular law. Courts are allowed to use

Hanafi jurisprudence The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools (maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named afte ...

in situations where the Constitution lacks provisions.

Cabinet

The current

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

consists of the president, his two vice-presidents and 25 ministers. The ministers are appointed by the president but need approval from the Wolesi Jirga (lower house).

Provinces and Districts

The constitution divides Afghanistan into 34 provinces. Each province is governed by a provincial council with members elected for four-year terms. Provincial Governors are appointed by the president. Provinces are divided into districts, which contain villages and towns. Every village and town will also have councils, with members serving for three years.

Religion

The Constitution describes

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

as its sacred law and the most commonly practiced faith throughout Afghanistan. Followers of other religions are "free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites" within the limits of the law. There is no mention of

freedom of thought Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. Overview Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency ...

, and apostasy from Islam.

Civil and human rights

Citizens are guaranteed the right to life and liberty, to

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

, of peaceful assembly, from torture and of expression and speech. If accused of a crime, citizens hold the right to be informed of the charges, to representation by an advocate, and to

presumption of innocence The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must presen ...

. Article 34 states, "Freedom of expression shall be inviolable. Every Afghan shall have the right to express thoughts through speech, writing, illustrations as well as other means in accordance with provisions of this constitution. Every Afghan shall have the right, according to provisions of law, to print and publish on subjects without prior submission to state authorities. Directives related to the press, radio and television as well as publications and other mass media shall be regulated by law." Provisions are made to ensure free education and healthcare for all citizens.

Language

Article 16 of the constitution states that "from amongst

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī � ...

, Uzbek, Turkmen, Balochi, Pashai, Nuristani and other current languages in the country, Pashto and Dari shall be the official languages of the state." In addition, other languages are considered "the third official language" in areas where they are spoken by a majority. Article 20 states that the

Afghan National Anthem Afghanistan has had a number of different national anthems throughout its history. History The Royal Salute (1926–1943) Afghanistan's first national anthem was adopted during its period as a monarchy. It was instrumental and had no lyrics. ...

(Wolesi Tarana) "shall be in Pashto with the mention of "God is Great" as well as the names of the tribes of Afghanistan." The constitution aims "to foster and develop all languages of Afghanistan." (Article 16)

Land ownership

Foreigners are not allowed to own land in Afghanistan. Foreign individuals shall not have the right to own immovable property in Afghanistan.https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Afghanistan_2004.pdf?lang=en

References

External links

President of Afghanistan - Constitution of Afghanistan (2004)Constitution - The Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC.
(2004)

(2004)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Constitution Of Afghanistan

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Government documents of Afghanistan 2004 in law Law of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Afghan law 2004 in Afghanistan Defunct constitutions 2004 documents