The ILF Project in Afghanistan Introduction The ILF has established a country-wide public defender system in Afghanistan, known as ILF-Afghanistan. ILF-A opened its first full-time office in 2003 in Kabul, with two Afghan lawyers and a $30,000 grant from the Open Society Institute. From 2003 to 2007, ILF-A sent volunteer lawyers from the UK, US and Canada to mentor Afghan lawyers and expand the project throughout the country. Today, the ILF has eleven offices and a budget of $1.5 million a year with funding from both governments and private foundations. As of now, ILF-A has 40 lawyers and has represented over 5000 indigent defendants. Since July 2007, ILF-A has been entirely under Afghan management and supervision, maintaining the highest level of training and representation. While there is continued discussion about the sustainability of legal aid services in post-conflict countries, the ILF has demonstrated that the cost of not having such services is far higher. When qualified lawyers represent the accused, the number of defendants incarcerated is greatly reduced. Active defense lawyers lower the level of arbitrary detentions by challenging weak prosecutions and getting defendants released before charges are brought. By limiting the time spent in prison, where torture and other human rights abuses are commonplace, active defense lawyers are the first protectors of human rights. Finally, limiting the rates of incarceration and sending indigent defendants back to their communities as soon as possible increases the level of security by engendering trust in the central government. Through the daily practice of its lawyers in the courts of Afghanistan, ILF-Afghanistan is proving the ILF’s theory that criminal defense is indispensable for the reconstruction of a criminal justice system. Without criminal defense lawyers to challenge the improper and ad hoc practices of judges and prosecutors, the building of a fair and impartial justice system is impossible. Without criminal defense lawyers to force the implementation of new legislation, old practices and attitudes remain in place. Without criminal defense lawyers to challenge an illegal pre-trial detention, the detainee will stay in custody. Without criminal defense lawyers to challenge the illegal seizure or disappearance of evidence, a court will accept the prosecutor's word. The ILF, and the attorneys at ILF-Afghanistan, demonstrate every day that criminal defense is an indispensable force behind justice reconstruction.
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