A Holistic Justice System for Afghanistan

This Policy Note presents AREU’s findings and recommendations on community-based dispute resolution, outlining how: • CBDR processes are not static and do not rest on an unchanging, imagined version of tradition and custom. They are instead continually revised over time to adapt to changing social relationships, political structures and new problems. • Strong links exist between state and CBDR actors, with cases often referred between them. • CBDR has capacities to maintain peace and social cohesion within communities, which is beyond the remit of the state justice sector; CBDR should therefore not be simply considered a stop-gap where there is a weak state justice system. • While women’s access to and participation in CBDR is constrained, spaces in which women do access and influence it can be found, and decisions can provide recourse for women to assert their rights.