Criminal law in Afghanistan

The current criminal-law framework is shaped mainly by Decree No. 12 of 5 January 2026, which the Supreme Court circulated on 7 January and which was published in May 2026 as Official Gazette No. 1486. The decree contains 119 articles and assigns its implementation to the courts of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Islamisches Emirat Afghanistan). The 2004 Constitution and laws from the republican period do not provide a reliable basis for current practice, although inherited laws may continue to play a role. This classification describes the researched position as of 4 September 2026; the texts and their application should be checked again before any specific decision. Criminal cases typically proceed before courts of first instance, appellate courts, and the de facto Supreme Court. Its criminal chamber continues to review cases from the provinces. Specialized courts and units from the republican period were reportedly dissolved or substantially changed. Police and security agencies conduct investigations, and the General Directorate of Intelligence (Generaldirektion für Nachrichtendienste) may also be involved in arrests and detention. Procedures, detention review, the chain of custody, the role of the prosecution, and protection against coerced confessions remain poorly transparent. UNAMA documented arbitrary arrests, detention, and torture or other ill-treatment. The offences covered include, among others, killing, bodily injury, theft, extramarital sexual relations, same-sex acts, alcohol, gambling, narcotics, public or morality-related violations, criticism of authorities or their policies, forgery, adulteration of goods, unauthorized activities, and the cultivation, trafficking, and transport of narcotics. Decree No. 12 is intended, among other things, to expand criminal liability to criticism of de facto authorities and their policies. For precise offences and evidentiary requirements, the original version in Dari or Pashto is authoritative. The key terms for sanctions are fixed punishments (Hudud), retaliation or equivalent redress (Qisas), discretionary punishments (Ta'zir), and blood compensation (Diyah). Qisas may, after a killing or serious injury, involve retaliation, financial compensation, or forgiveness by the victim's family. Depending on the case, Ta'zir may include counselling or a warning, a summons, detention, corporal punishment, and the destruction of property. Public executions and floggings have been documented. In 2025, UNAMA recorded at least 943 cases of judicial corporal punishment, including five boys and six girls; in the fourth quarter, there were at least 287 cases. In its report for the fourth quarter, UNAMA had documented twelve public executions since 15 August 2021. The prison administration is responsible for criminal and corrections-related enforcement, as well as rehabilitation and reintegration. At the end of January 2025, according to the available information, approximately 25,500 people were detained, including about 1,900 women, 450 accompanying children, and 1,400 juveniles. Access to prisons has improved through visits by UNAMA and OHCHR, but this is not evidence of a uniform procedure nationwide. Victims may turn to the police, courts, the legal-aid service of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Ministerium für die Förderung der Tugend und Verhinderung des Lasters), or local jirgas (Jirgas) and shuras (Schuras). Mediation by police, courts, justice authorities, or community representatives also occurs in cases of violence against women and in serious cases. It does not replace reliable criminal accountability and may create pressure, especially in cases of gender-based violence. Women's access to formal dispute-resolution bodies is substantially lower than men's; consultations at the end of 2025 reported 14 percent compared with 53 percent. Informal proceedings are predominantly controlled by men and are not safe or suitable for every affected person. The Directorate of Legal Aid (Direktion für Rechtshilfe) at the Ministry of Justice (Justizministerium) may offer free advice or representation to indigent suspects, defendants, and victims. An application and an assessment of need are envisaged; the hotline number is 188. Actual availability varies by region, and women working as legal advisers or lawyers face substantial restrictions. Reliable nationwide averages for costs or the duration of proceedings are not available. For children, the inherited 2017 Penal Code specifies twelve as the minimum age of criminal responsibility and provides special procedural safeguards and alternatives. It is unclear whether these rules are currently enforced consistently. Juvenile courts appear to have been dismantled or reduced, while juvenile correctional and rehabilitation centres remain documented. Separation from adults, age assessment, and child-sensitive procedural rights are not reliably secured everywhere. Traffic criminal law is based on the Traffic Law and covers, among other things, permits, driving licences, traffic police, passenger and freight transport, compensation, insurance, fees, and penalties. Responsibility lies with the Traffic Directorate or the traffic police. The current schedule of penalties, the appeals procedure, and practice in the provinces have not been published reliably. Claims for civil damages do not fall entirely within criminal proceedings. For cybercrime, Articles 851 to 879 of the Penal Code accessible through the Ministry of Communications contain provisions on unauthorized access, the alteration of systems or data, malware, electronic forgery and fraud, cyber theft, prohibited information technology, cyberterrorism, espionage, pornography, and illegal SIM cards. For several offences, medium-term imprisonment or fines of 60,000 to 300,000 AFN are specified; for pornography, the stated penalties range up to two years' imprisonment or 60,000 to 120,000 AFN. It has not been conclusively established whether these provisions remain in force after Decree No. 12. Afghanistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; international reports assess Decree No. 12 and corporal punishment as incompatible with these human-rights obligations.