Constitutional Law and the Afghan Legal System
Core concepts
You must be able to trace the hierarchy of norms: the Constitution sits at the apex, followed by ratified international treaties, then statutes (codes), then regulations, then customary and Sharia-derived rules where the law is silent. Understand the structure of the state: the three branches, the role of the legislature in criminalizing conduct, and the principle of legality - no crime and no punishment without a prior legal text. Know that the Constitution guarantees the presumption of innocence, the right to defense counsel, prohibition of torture, and the principle that punishment is personal.
Traps
Questions often test whether a rule applied retroactively. Remember that a later, more lenient criminal law benefits the accused; a harsher one does not apply to past conduct. Another trap is confusing the source of a right (constitutional vs. statutory) - a right may be constitutional even where no statute implements it. Also watch for questions implying that custom or local practice can create a crime; it cannot.
Rule of thumb
When a question asks whether a restriction on liberty is valid, run the sequence: (1) Is there a legal basis? (2) Is the aim legitimate? (3) Is the measure proportionate? (4) Does it preserve the core of the right? If any step fails, the measure is invalid.
Worked example
A client is charged under a decree issued after the alleged act. The decree is harsher than the prior law. The correct analysis: the later harsher text cannot apply retroactively; the earlier law governs.