This month marks the public release of Introduction to the Laws of Afghanistan (4th ed.), the latest publication in a series of textbooks created by Stanford Law’s Afghanistan Legal Education Project (ALEP). The book was co-authored by Stanford Law students and faculty members in close collaboration with professors from the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF). The textbook is designed to teach AUAF students about the foundations of Afghan law. It’s now being used for the first time in Professor Ghizaal Haress’ Intro to the Laws of Afghanistan course, which is mandatory for AUAF law students and political science majors and meets a general education requirement for other undergraduates.

The textbook tackles a range of issues that are central to practicing law in Afghanistan. It covers basic legal concepts, the sources of Afghan law, Afghanistan’s legal history and institutions, and core substantive and procedural laws. The fourth edition also includes a new chapter dedicated to explicit instruction of critical thinking skills. This content reflects the strong collaboration we had with several AUAF law professors, who defined the book’s structure and topical coverage at the outset of the project and explained their educational objectives to the ALEP team during a week-long conference in Asia.

Each of the seven ALEP members in Stanford Law School’s class of 2018 authored one chapter of the new textbook. The students are proud to see their efforts come to fruition. “I hope that the AUAF students learn as much from reading the chapter as I did writing it,” remarked Michael Talent, who wrote the new chapter on critical thinking. Another student co-author, Juan Pablo Perez-Sangimino, added: “I could not feel more grateful for the opportunity ALEP has given me to work with such an extraordinary group of people in helping shape rule of law in Afghanistan.” The other five student co-authors are Kristina Alekseyeva, Stephanie Birndorf, Joseph DeMott, Shannon Galvin, and Tara Rangchi.

Professor Erik Jensen, Faculty Director of Stanford’s Rule of Law program, got to see the textbook in action when he attended one of Professor Haress’ classes at AUAF in Kabul on March 31, 2018. He observed how Professor Haress used the textbook to facilitate a lively discussion with students about the pros and cons of the Afghan jirga, a traditional community-based forum for dispute resolution:

“One student defended the virtue of the jirga as more democratic than the courts because the jirga is selected by the community. Professor Haress asked: ‘But who in the community gets to select the jirga and who traditionally is selected to sit on the jirga?’ A female student actually had the experience of having a dispute before the jirga. But, because she was a woman, male relatives appeared on her behalf. She asked: ‘How democratic and just is a jirga when I can’t even appear before it on my own behalf?’ The introductory textbook and the class associated with it is confronting some of the most critical questions about legality and justice that Afghans face today.” Professor Erik Jensen, Faculty Director of Stanford’s Rule of Law Program.

As ALEP celebrates the launch of this important book —now available on the ALEP website—it recognizes that there is much work yet to do. Over the last decade, AUAF’s law offerings have grown from a single Introduction to the Laws of Afghanistan course to a full-fledged BA-LLB degree granting program. During that time, Stanford law students—with funding support from the U.S. Department of State—have developed curriculum goals, developed several textbooks, and held numerous public events on the rule of law in Afghanistan. The soon-to-be-graduating members of the ALEP team are proud of their contributions to this important endeavor and look forward to continued collaboration with the next generation of Afghan legal scholars in the years to come.