Constitution-making process in Afghanistan
The process of adopting a new constitution lasted from October, 2002, to January 2004, around 14/15 months:
• Initial drafting process October 2002 through April 2003;
• Consultation with interested parties or stakeholders from May through July, 2003;
• Drafting Revision process of the draft from the summer of 2003 through October 2003; and
• Final debate and Tasweeb (Adoption), at a Constitutional Loya Jirga convened in Kabul from 14 December 2003 to 04 January 2004.
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Constitutional bodies involved in the process - Support to the Constitution-Making Process in Afghanistan.
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The CLJ process was designed to draw in all stakeholders, including ordinary people, in the four segments. Therefore, it was accompanied by a nation-wide civic information and education campaign aiming at maximizing public awareness as well as representation.
Constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ)
Decree of the President of the Islamic Transitional State of Afghanistan on the Convening of the Constitutional Loya Jirga dated: 24.04.1382 - (July 15, 2003)
The Decree regulated the main issues regarding the gathering of the CLJ, namely: the composition, the criteria and procedure for the election of members, the organization of the election managed by the Secretariat (Art.7), the establishment of the Executive Committee (Art.9) for monitoring
the elections of members and convening of the Constitutional Loya Jirga and the
designation of a Security Unit (Art.8) responsible for the implementation of security
measures to ensure the safe, effective and regular carrying out of the proceedings.
Composition and number of members:
Five hundred members: Four hundred and fifty members shall be elected and fifty members shall be selected.
- 50 experts appointed by the President, 25 of whom were to be women;
- 344 delegates elected by the approximately 18,000 former Emergency Loya
Jirga representatives;
- 24 elected refugees from Pakistan and Iran;
- 64 women elected by women—two women per province;
- 9 elected Kochis (nomadic tribes);
- 6 elected Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from three
provinces; and
- 3 elected Hindu and Sikhs.
A number of observers where also participating to the ballots. The observer members did not have the right to vote and express their views during the proceedings of the Constitutional Loye Jirga unless they were asked specific questions or requested to give explanations by the Loya Jirga members:
- (a) Members of the cabinet of the ITSA
(33 persons)
- (b) Chief of the Supreme Court (1
person)
- (c) Chairman and members of the
Constitutional Commission (35 persons)
- (d) The chairpersons of the
Judicial Commission and the Afghan Independent
- Human Rights Commission (2 persons)
Other senior government officials including governors, deputy governors, district administrators,mayors, army, police and National Security Directorate personnel didn’t have the right to be voted and participate in the Constitutional Loya Jirga.;
Procedure for the election of the Loya Jirga
members:
Representatives selected in connection with the Emergency Loya Jirga shall assemble in the provincial capitals. Detailed information on the process of election, criteria and procedure of the Loya Jirga will be provided. In the event of the death of a district representative, the remaining representatives from the same district
shall elect another eligible person and send him to the capital of the
respective province.
(b) In Sonbola 1382
(September 2003) district representatives shall assemble in the cities of
Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Bamyan, Kunduz and Gardez
and elect members of the Loya Jirga through secret ballot. Elections shall take
place on a provincial basis. The number
of elected members from each province shall be proportional to the number of
members from the same province in the Emergency Loya Jirga.
Documents of reference
·Documents written before the convening of the (CLJ):
Afghanistan’s political and constitutional development.Chris Johnson, William Maley, Alexander Thier and Ali Wardak 2003 – Section Designing and approving the constitution pp.15-18 (Jan.2003)
Paper containing recommendations for the correct
carrying out of the CLJ proceedings and the fair selection and election of
members (representation of women, minorities and disabled people)
Document containing references to the logic model,
the concept note for the “Support for the development of a new constitution in
Afghanistan” project. UNDP, UNAMA
Presentation entitled "The Making of a Constitution in Afghanistan" excerpt from the Panel
IV: Re-Establishing a Legal System - State Reconstruction and International
Engagement in Afghanistan held in connection with the Bonn Conference.
http://www.ag-afghanistan.de/arg/arp/thier.pdf
·Reports published after the convening of the Constitutional Loya Jirga:
The role of constitution-building processes in democratization – case study Afghanistan – IDEA
International – pp.11-22 Section dedicated to the Constitution-Making Process
and the CLJ (Dec.2004):
Support to the Constitution-Making Process in Afghanistan – Final Report UNDP (2004):
Afghanistan:Building a State to Keep the Peace-Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, Volume
9, 2005, p. 423-433:
Lessons learned, evaluation and comparative study - Constitutional Assistance in Post-Conflict
countries. The UN experience: Cambodia, East Timor & Afghanistan (June
2005):
