U.S. Embassy Release on Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony creating a Criminal Case Management System
On October 17, Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan, and Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne, U.S. Embassy Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs, joined leaders of seven ministries of the Government of Afghanistan at a ceremony for the signing of an agreement to implement this national criminal case management system. Upon the signing of the agreement, both Ambassador Eikenberry and Ambassador Wayne offered congratulations on behalf of the U.S. government to the participating Afghan officials from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, Attorney General’s Office, Supreme Court, Ministry of Defense, High Office of Oversight, and National Directorate of Security for their unprecedented collaboration on this important effort.
“I’d like to commend the seven Afghan Government ministries represented here today for the way they have come together to draft this Memorandum that will extended to the provinces and be implemented nationwide,” said Ambassador Wayne. “We are proud to be a part of the development of this system, congratulate all the individuals involved in this significant milestone, and look forward to our continued partnership.”
Since 2008, the U.S. Government has worked with the Afghan Ministries to create standard operating procedures, files, forms and processes across all the criminal justice institutions to increase efficiency, accountability and transparency. This work has culminated in the agreement to implement a national case management system that will ensure that suspects are appropriately charged, that evidence is appropriately passed from police investigators to prosecutors to courts, and that prisoners are not held past the duration of their sentence.
“This case management system is already beginning to have an impact,” noted Ambassador Wayne. “A pilot phase of the project was introduced at Pol-i-Charkhi prison, Kabul Female Prison and Detention Center, and Parwan provincial prison. Over 5,000 cases have already been reviewed, and 128 prisoners who were being held beyond the end of their sentences, due to missing case records, have been freed and returned home to their families. I think this is an excellent illustration of how building capacity within Afghan government institutions can have a direct and dramatic effect on improving the lives of Afghan citizens.”
“The principal of the Rule of Law is fundamental to the success of any modern society, of any modern state,” concluded Ambassador Eikenberry, “and I know that, from the times of trouble that you the Afghan people have been through for the last30 years, that each one of you aspires for the commitment top the Rule of Law.” The implementation of the case management system will have a profound impact on the Afghan criminal justice system, significantly reducing corruption and bureaucratic obstacles and ensuring that that suspects are appropriately charged, that evidence is appropriately passed from police investigators to prosecutors to courts, and that prisoners are not held past the duration of their sentence. All of this will hold Afghanistan’s justice institutions accountable to each other and to the citizens of Afghanistan.