Constitution
The present Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was agreed upon by more than 500 delegates representing Afghan men and women from across the country at the Constitutional Loya Jirga (December 13, 2003 - January 4, 2004). The Constitution was formally ratified by President Hamid Karzai at a ceremony in Kabul on January 26, 2004.
The full text of the Constitution may be found below. Note: this is an unofficial English translation of the Constitution. In any conflict between this and the original Dari / Pashto Constitution, the Dari / Pashto version shall take precedence.
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
(Ratified) January 26, 2004
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainers of Worlds; and Praise and Peace be upon Mohammad,
His Last Messenger and his disciples and followers
We the people of Afghanistan:
- l Believing firmly in Almighty God, relying on His divine will and adhering to the Holy religion of Islam;
- l Realizing the previous injustices, miseries and innumerable disasters which have befallen our country;
- l Appreciating the sacrifices, historical struggles, jihad and just resistance of all the peoples of Afghanistan,
- admiring the supreme position of the martyr’s of the country’s
freedom;
- l Comprehending that a united, indivisible Afghanistan belongs to all its tribes and peoples;
- l Observing the United Nations Charter as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
And in order to:
Strengthen national unity, safeguard independence, national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country;
- l Establish an order based on the peoples’ will and democracy;
- l Form a civil society void of oppression, atrocity, discrimination as well as violence,
- l based on rule of law, social justice, protecting integrity and human rights, and attaining peoples’
- freedoms and fundamental rights;
- l Strengthen political, social, economic as well as defense institutions;
- l Attain a prosperous life and sound living environment for all inhabitants of this land;
- l And, eventually, regain Afghanistan’s appropriate place in the international family;
Have, herein, approved this constitution in accordance with the historical, cultural and social realities as well as requirements of time through our elected representatives in the Loya Jirga, dated January 3, 2004, held in the city of Kabul.
Chapter One: State [ 13.69KB-HTML - 30 Mar 2009 ] (21 articles)
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