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Comparative law and justice/Turkey

Basic Information
Turkey is a country located Southeast of Europe and Southwest of Asia. Turkey borders the Black Sea and is between Bulgaria and Georgia. Turkey also borders the Aegean Sea and Mediterranean Sea, between Syria and Greece. Its capital is Ankara. Turkey has and area of 783,562 sq km, with 769,632 sq km donated to land and 13,930 sq km of ocean. The climate is temperate with hot, dry summers and mild winters. Turkeys population is over 85 million, with a growth.

Turkey's natural resources consist of coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, emery, feldspar, limestone, marble, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, and hydro power. Turkey's produces goods such as tobacco, cotton, grain olives, sugar beets, hazel nuts, pulse, citrus, and livestock. The language spoken in Turkey is officially Turkish, however there are other nationalities that exist and speak other languages other then Turkish. These nationalities include Kurdish (ranging in 18%) and others ranging in 7-12%. Turkey's composition includes 8.8% donated to agriculture, industry (25.7%), and services (65.5%). Currently, Turkey's unemployment rate is 12.4% as of 2010, in 2009 it was 14.1%.

Brief History
Modern Turkey was first founded in 1923, after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk defeated former emperor Ottoman. In 1950 his rule lead to the election of the opposing democrat party, which led to a peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Turkey had been living in peace with its new government, until it began to fracture. This was due to instability and intermittent military coups. Power however was restored and returned to the people. Also in 1945 Turkey joined the UN and in 1954 Turkey became a member of NATO.

In 1974 Turkey intervened in Cypress to prevent Greek hostile forces from taking over and inhabiting the island. As a result Cypress has been a patron to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is only recognized by Turkey. In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers Party (or now Peoples Congress or Kurdistan, PKK, or Kongra-Gel KGK) began a separatists insurgency which claimed 30,000 lives and gained the militaries attention since 1999. In 1999, the leader of the insurgency was kidnapped by the Turkish military and the KGK withdrew to Nothern Iraq. This did not mark the end of this ordeal though because in 2004 KGK ended its cease fire agreement and thus attacks on KGK increased.

Economic Development, Health, and Education
Economic Development: Industry is one of Turkey's most successful sectors, in fact the country is driven by industry. Even though agriculture holds 30% of Turkey's employment, industry is still the most popular business in the country. Turkey earns a GPD exchange rate of $729.1 billion. Turkey also earns the following:

GPD Purchasing power: 958.3 billion (2010) compared to 893.1 billion (2009) GPD Growth rate: 7.3% (2010), compared to -4.7 (2009) GPD Per Capita: $12,300 (2010) compared to 11,600 (2009) Composition by sector: Agriculture: 8.8%, Industry: 25.7%, and services: 65.5% Labor force by occupation: Agriculture: 29.5%, Industry: 24.7%,and Services: 45.8%

Turkey's Unemployment rate ranks in 12.4% in 2010, which is an improvement from 2009 when the employment rate was 14.1%. The population below the poverty line is 17.11%

Health: Turkey suffers from air pollution in urban areas. Turkey also suffers from chemical spills in the water and detergents leading to water pollution and poisoning. There are also oil spills in the Black Sea, which add to the water pollution. Turkey, overall does not have much of a healthy environment in certain areas. Surprisingly, Turkey's life expectancy at birth for the total population is 72.23 years (70.37 years for males and 74.19 years females). The infant mortality rates for the entire population are 24.84 deaths/1000 population (25.89 for males and 23.73 for females). Turkey is known to have citizen's that are not living with AID's or any citizen that have died from AID's.

Education: Turkey boasts that at age 15 and over can read and write. The total population that is educated ranks at 87.4% with males ranking highest at 95.3% and females ranking at 79.6%. The total school life expectancy in Turkey is 12 years, very similar to our American system. In Turkey, mens' school life expectancy is 12 years, where as females life expectancy is 11 years. In Turkey 2.9% of its GPD is spent on an education.

Governance
Turkey's governance operates as a republican parliamentary democracy. Turkey posses a government system very similar to that of the United States. Turkey has a legislative branch, which is known as the Grand National Assembly of Turkey which seats 550 members. Turkey also posses a Judicial Branch which consists of the Constitutional Court, the High Court of Appeals (Yargitay), Council of State (Danistay), Court of Accounts (Sayistay), Military High Court of Appeals, and Military High Administrative Court. Turkey also has an executive branch, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan as President, and Prime Minister is Ahmet Davutoglu.

Elections
Turkey's older election system is also somewhat similar to the United States. In Turkey you must be 18 years of age or older to vote, you can also form political parties as well but they must have a headquarters in the capital of the country of Ankara. To win a seat in parliament you must receive 10 percent of the vote from the entire country. The president also serves a seven year term (rather then a two year term in the U.S.). The elections are held in every province of Turkey and are reported and recorded publicly. The voting process is also supervised by a judicial administration.

The elections in Turkey have changed since 2007. In modern-day Turkey the president is elected by popular vote rather than by consultation of parliament.The president also now serves a five year term and is permitted to run for re-election.

Judicial Review
Turkey's highest source of law is its Constitution because of the countries belief in the constitution as a supreme legal power. The Constitution has been maintained since 1826 and was maintained in the 1923, 1961, and 1982 as well. In the 1982 constitution, Turkey's principals and judicial review were both maintained. Turkey's Judicial Review states that the Constitutional Courts are authorized to review laws by their form, but are not authorized to review unconstitutional laws in regard to their form. A law that is in consideration for review is left to the majority ballot. Review of the form of a law may be overseen by the President or one-fifth the vote of the Turkish Grand Assembly. defects in Annulment may not be made unless within ten days of which the bill was ratified. Within Turkey's judicial review, it also mentions judicial immunity. Judicial Immunity is only granted in article 174 of the constitution in order to protect secular laws of the constitution.

Turkey has three types of courts: military, judicial and administrative, with each consisting of an Appellate Court and a First Instance Court. The largest part of Turkey's judicial system are the judicial courts' which consist of two courts: Court of Appeals and the Constitutional Court. These courts' usually deal with criminal and civil cases. Constitutional courts review constitutionality of the legislation and the decrees of Turkey, where as the Appellate Court's review civil and criminal decisions from lower courts.11 members are elected from lower courts' as well as High Council of judges and public prosecutors.

The Administrative Courts consist of Council of the state, appellate courts, and various courts of first instance. The president elects 25 percent of the Council of State judges, whereas the other appointees are elected by the Public Prosecutors. Finally the Supreme Military Administrative Courts consists of the Appellate State Security Court and the Military Court of Appeals. These court's have jurisdiction over all military personnel and civilians accused of terrorism. Turkey's legal system follows the inquisitorial model, which is the model that suggests that the trial acts as the investigation to a discrepancy or crime, lawyers have a passive role, professional and non-professional judges make the decisions, and the goal is to uncover the truth. This is so because Turkey is split into many different legal divisions that mostly involve the judges decision as well as other non professional judges decisions, rather then him/her acting as a referee. For example, the Court of Jurisdictional Conflict hears cases that involve verdicts of the Administrative, Justice, or Military. This court consists of different members, both professional and non-professional, from High Council of State, Supreme Military Court of Appeals, Court of Appeals, and the Military Administrative Court of Appeals. Being that Turkey's legal system is divided into many different sections, it is quite difficult to understand whether or not they follow the Adversarial model or the inquisitorial model of justice.

Courts and Criminal Law
Turkey's criminal law operates as follows. If someone commits a crime, but fails to do so due to circumstances beyond his/her control then they are still guilty of committing a criminal offense. If an individual abandons the commission of a crime, what ever part of the crime that was ceased and abandon is excused and therefore not punishable. However, the accomplished half of said crime will be punished. As far as participation in a crime is concerned anyone who participates in a crime in Turkey is also subject to legal consequences as much as the original offender. When an offender uses another person in the commission of a crime then that person is still responsible for the crime, however the person that used another for the crime, his/her punishment is increased to one-half. Even if an individual is tricked into helping another commit a crime, Turkey has little toleration for crime and the participant is still held responsible. For information on the courts see Judicial Review above.

Turkey has three types of courts: military, judicial, and administrative, each consisting of an Appellate Court and a First Instance Court. The largest part of Turkey's judicial systems are the judicial courts which consist of two courts: Court of Appeals and the Constitutional Court. These courts usually deal with criminal and civil cases. Constitutional courts review constitutionality of the legislation and the decrees of Turkey, where as the Appellate Courts review civil and criminal decisions from lower courts. 11 members are elected from lower courts as well as High Council of judges and public prosecutors.

The Administrative Courts consist of Council of the state, appellate courts, and various courts of first instance. The president elects 25 percent of the Council of State judges, whereas the other appointees are elected by the Public Prosecutors. Finally the Supreme Military Administrative Courts consist of the appellate State Security Court and the Military Court of Appeals. These courts have jurisdiction over all military personnel and civilians accused of terrorism.

The Turkish courts system consists of the minister of justice, high council of judges, and public prosecutors. The high council of judges select the lower court judges and oversees the career of judges and prosecutors, such as transfers, appointment, promotion, ect. They also have the power to removes judges and prosecutors from office, however judges are protected by the constitution against arbitrary removals of judges without due cause. The judges render decisions after the establishing the facts of a case derived from the evidence given to them. . A judges role in a court case is to administer a ruling based on the law, Constitution,and personal convictions regarding the law. In the Turkish constitution the defendant of a court case has the right to a public trial and it is the responsibility of the bar association in Turkey to provide indigent defendants with free counsel. There is no jury system in Turkey because everything is decided by a panel of judges based on the evidence presented by lawyers and the prosecutors. To become a lawyer in Turkey a law degree is required one must have a law degree and have at least accomplished one year of internship. During the internship the trainee is trained for six months in the court room and another six months in the legal office. Once one has completed their internship they are entered into the bar association in the community of their choice. Passing the bar test is not required in Turkey, compared to the U.S. where it is required. The legal term for a lawyer is "avukat".

Turkey's lawsuits and punitive damage cases are resolved in the Turkish civil courts. They are dealt with in four phases. The first phase involves submitting a claim to a competent court which must set forth the following elements. The address and name of the opposing party, subject matter of the claim, material facts and evidence, and the relief sought. after the claim is submitted against the defendant then the defendant must submit his/her statement of defense to the court. The second phase involves the "investigation phase" in which the court investigates the parties consistencies with the material facts. If the court decides that all required evidence is in the case file and there are no outstanding issues with the dispute items then the case is considered finalized. The second phase is the most time consuming. The third phase involves the hearing and rendering of the verdict. The court does allow the parties to make additional pleadings in which they hold a separate hearing. In the final hearing the judge will state that the issue has been discussed and that the evidence has been Thoroughly collected, allowing the court to render the verdict. The fourth and final phase includes appealing to a higher court against the lower courts decision if necessary. In terms of guilt and/or innocence, there is no jury system in Turkey, only a judge decides your fate. Therefore, presumption of guilt and innocence is left in the hands of the judge and what he believes happened and is fair in his eyes. This was emphasized in a court case involving two Turkish christians, Hakan Tatsan and Turan Topal, who slandered Islam and Turkishness, while expressing there faith in three young men from Silivri. In the judges ending quote he stated the " In other countries a judge or judges decide your guilt or innocence. In Turkey, the courts have no jury system. Judges alone decide your fate if you are accused". The charges of blasphemy were dropped on the two men because the judge stated that Turkey did not posses laws involving blasphemy and expression.

Punishment
Punishment in Turkey operates within three categories strict imprisonment, ordinary imprisonment, and heavy fines. Under the amended Criminal Code of 1926 certain crimes and premeditated murder are punished with the death penalty. Executions in Turkey were quite common with 1,000 executions occurring in 1986 if there were blanket commutations. The death sentence and executions ended in 1991 however, with the passage of the Anti-Terror Law of 1991. Within the Prisons strict labor is enforced and those who are recidivists are sentenced to solitary confinement. A prison sentence in Turkey usually spans to twenty years including labor. In more serious cases voting rights, payment and restitution, disqualification of holding a public office, and professional practices in a trade also resulted as well. The death penalty in Turkey was abolished for all crimes in 2004, and replaced with life imprisonment. The imprisonment rate in Turkey is 92 per 100,000 people boasting a share prison capacity filled of 91.1%. Turkey also boasts having 64,051 prisoners, with 3.7% female prisoners and 1.7% foreigner prisoners. Juvenile system in Turkey is a topic of great concern. This is so because children are tried in criminal courts under the Anti-terror laws and they are tried as adults. Also most children tried in Turkey are of Kurdish decent and face up to 24 years in Prison just for protesting and throwing stones at security officials. Many articles of Turkey's constitution (such as, articles 9 and 13) allow Turkey to try juveniles as adults, however the state is looking out for the best interest of the children when these laws are enforced. Thus, Turkey's government is attempting to amend articles 9 and 13 as a democratic initiative to solve the Kurdish question. These laws are still under discussion in parliament but many child advocate groups such as the Justice for Children Initiative (JCI) group think these laws will fail due to TCK implications in the constitution. Turkeys justifications for punishment seem as though they are following the retrobutionist model (or eye for an eye model). This is so because many of their punishments seem to have one goal set in mind, "revenge" or paying restitution to the victim party.

Legal Personnel
Turkey's legal personnel consist of the Gendarmeire. The Gendarmerie maintains order within the boundaries of Turkey and in municipal areas as well. The total number of gendarmes in Turkey usually range from 70,000 active units to 50,000 reserves. they are arranged into thirteen regional commands that enforce seventy-six provinces in Turkey each with a commander and a colonel or lieutenant colonel that oversee government matters. The Gendamerie function as Turkey's national police. They oversee such issues as hunting and fishing laws, as well as preventing forest fires and patrolling borders. The Judicial tasks of the gendarmes is guarding prisons, preparing for trials, and assisting in investigation. The military duties of the gendarmes involve serving as adjuncts in the army in case of an emergency, enforcing conscription, apprehending military deserters, and working in military courts.

Officers of the Gendamerie are chosen from cadets whom have served at least two years in military services. After they are chosen they attend an infantry school program for six months and a commando school for four months. the NCO's are then chosen by members of the Gendamerie who have served at least one year as a gendarme and the selected spend five months in training at the Gendamerie School of Command. Turkey also has its own intellegents agency, Milli Istihbarat Teskilati (MIT). Its primary responsibility is to gather intelligence via electronic eavesdropping and overseeing military attaches' as well as exchange intelligence with foreign intelligence services. The National Intelligence Coordination Committee helps MIT in gathering military and civil intelligence. MIT also consist of members of the National Security Council. MIT have no police powers and can only gather intellegents and counter intelligence against communist and separatist countries like Kurdish and Armenian countries. The MIT chief's duty is to report to government.

Law Enforcement
According to Reichel (2008), there are 6 different models of policing. There is the single/centralized model in which one police force enforces a single set of laws. Next there is the single/decentralized model of policing in which a single police force enforces the laws of different government sections (like in Japan) such as, judges, prosecutors, and magistrates. Third is the Centralized Multiple Coordinated system in which multiple police forces enforce laws of a central government. Fourth is the Decentralized Multiple Coordinated model, in which multiple police forces enforces laws from different sections of government. fifth is the Centralized Multiple Uncoordinated model, in which multiple police forces enforce the laws of one government. Finaly, there is the Decntralized Multiple Uncoordinated model, in which Separate police forces enforce the laws of different government sections. Turkey's law enforcement consists of a single decentralized police force. A single decenteralized police force is the idea of a single police force thatenforces multiple laws from different sections of government. Turkey's only known police force is the Gendarmerie that oversee such issue as fishing laws to overseeing military court trials. Turkey also follows the police model of martial law in which the police and the military are synonymous or they both work equally and coincide with each other. The Turkish Armed forces play a huge role in politics, they are seen as the guardians of Turkey's secular state. This is so because the military warned the Turkish government of the pro-Islamic appointments, despite the negotiations of the EU accession in October of 2005. The police are also close to law enforcement because all cadets being trained for the Gendamerie are first put through military training in order to be trained as a gendarme. Turkey ranks 27 out of 30 in countries that have citizens that responded to corruption. 1,755 citizens that have responded to corruption in Turkey have a 0.15 percent out of 95% confidence level.

Crime Rates and Public Opinion
The total crime rate in Turkey is 286,482 ranking 32 out of 82 in countries with high crime rates (the U.S. being the highest with 11,877,281 crimes reported). One of Turkey's biggest crime commodities is drug trafficking (most of it being heroin trade). Turkey in fact acts as a direct transit route for Southwestern Asia's heroine trade between Europe and small amounts in the U.S. Most of Turkey's drug rackets operate in Istanbul. It is reported that Istanbul does have laboratories that convert morphine chemical bases into heroin that exists in small parts of both Turkey and Istanbul. Turkey also holds control over opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate. It is also reported that Turkey has some control in money laundering operations for their drug trades or other illegal activities.

Other crimes occur in Turkey as well. Robbery for example, there have been 1,633 robberies and 1,260 rapes in Turkey ranking it 24 of 50 in rapes across the globe. Robberies ran 47 of 47 in Turkey. Manslaughter in Turkey ranks 5th out 42 with 2,175 manslaughters, compared to other countries with manslaughter (Mexico being the highest). Assaults range in 53,485 (12th of 49) and 14,954 car thefts (24th of 46). In Turkey there are 2,060,060 adults prosecuted and 306,445 adults acquitted for crimes. Drug offenses also occur in 4.6 of 100,000 people.

The publics opinion of crime in Turkey stems form the media. According to the article "The Effect of the Media on Citizens Fear of Crime", Erhan Erdonmez conducted a study on crime in Turkey and what factors contribute to crime in Turkey. Erhan Erdonmez studied age, gender, education, and even urbanized areas of Turkey as factors of crime. According to his research, he found that age, education, age, and location had no effect on the crime rates in Turkey. However his study showed that women feared being mugged more then men fear being burglarized in their own home. Also Erdonmez's study shows that the media mainly responsible for crime because a majority of Turkey's citizens (476:87.3%) say that crime is learned from television programs and the media compared to other sources. The citizens of Turkey know that crime still exists, but fear the media is the biggest contributor.

Family Law
Marriage in Turkey operates much differently from our American system of marriage. Only Civil marriage is legal in Turkey, of course religious ceremonies are not prohibited, but they have no legal standing and thus are not legal in the country of Turkey. In Turkey, if your country forbids you to marry an individual from a foreign country then you will not be able to obtain the necessary legal paper work needed for a legal marriage in Turkey. The minimum age to marry is 18 years of age in Turkey and only those with decent mental capacity have the right to marry. If a person is not mentally competent, then the marriage is barred. There are other prohibitions against marriage as well. Marriage between close relatives or consanguinity are grounds for a bar of the marriage. Certain illnesses, such as epilepsy also constitutes a bar of the marriage as well. Polygamy is also frowned upon in Turkey, thus all previous marriages a man and woman had previously must be terminated legally before a new marriage is consummated.

Divorce in Turkey works differently as well. A women must wait 300 days to remarry after divorcing a man; this also applies to the man of the relationship. There are many different, legally sound reasons for two individuals to divorce from each other in Turkey. They are: mental illness, maltreatment, attempting to kill, humiliating behavior, legal grounds are incompatible, living apart for three years after the court denied termination of marriage, committing a crime, unreasonable behavior, and adultery. The marriage will not be dissolved unless the petitioner proves fault in the opposing party and both spouses must mutually agree to divorce. The marriage will also not be dissolved unless both parties are present at the hearing. If the divorce is due to adultery, written affidavits will not be accepted as sufficient evidence and the spouses statements will be heard by a judge before the court. If a man has sex with another women (not his wife), vis-a-vis, then either one has legal right to file a divorce. sex with other individuals of the same sex does not count as adultery. In a case of maltreatment or attempted murder of spouse partner, if one spouse partner means to kill the other it is treated as attempt to kill. If the spouse partner beats, locks away, or starves the other to instill deterrence from leaving of the other it is considered maltreatment. Finally if there is humiliation in which one insults or acts in a dishonoring way towards the other, such as throwing them out of the family house or insulting them then it is considered grounds for divorce.

Adoption and child laws in Turkey work as follows. In Turkey the parents of an adopted child must provide an education and care for the child for a year before the adoption is finalized. A child care contract must also be signed by both parents for the adoption to be finalized and the Director of Social Services and Protection remains the guardian until the adoption is finalized. In matters of child custody, the child remains in the parent's custody until eighteen years of age. Both mother and father share custody of the child and custody can not be removed from either parent with out consent from the court. The father's legal preference is required if there is an argument in custody between spouses. A child under 18 will be provide with a guardian regardless of the age, if he/she does not have a parent or competent relative to care for him/her. The court's permission must be sought however. In alimony, every one is obliged to help their children, brothers, sisters, ect. However, the party that was not awarded custody of the child will be required to pay alimony in, regard to their financial standing, for child rearing and care.

Social Inequality
There are many different groups that are discriminated against in Turkey one of which is children. In Turkey children are tried as adults in the Turkish courts if they commit crimes. A good example of this would be the demonstrations that were expressed by children as young as 12 years of age for the members of the Kurdish community, most of which involved violent clashes with policy. These young children were charged under Turkey's anti-terrorism act. These children were detained with no access to a lawyer or family members and no access to education, health facilities, and leisure activities. Many of these children had also reported torture and ill treatment while in these incarceration facilities. Recently the rights for children had been amended and now children may be tried in child courts, rather than adults in court. the process is slow though because it takes a while for the children to be transferred to Child Courts.

Another group that has been denied their rights (namely, expression and association) are the gay, lesbian, transsexual groups. This was expressed in case where The Black Pink Triangle (an organization representing same sex groups)attempted to have rights extended to same sex groups such as freedom of association. The judge of Izmir court (where this case took place) struck down this case, stating that homosexuality and transsexuality violated moral values and family structure of Turkey. The case mainly involved the courts stopping short many Pink Black Triangle groups from joining other organizations such as KAOS-GL and Pembe Hayat (pink life). The Minister of Interior, Besir Atalay and the governor of Izmir, along with the prosecutor tried to have rights extended for same sex groups in this case. However the prosecutor also tried to have the case dropped. Therefore the case is still undecided.

As far as gender inequality is concerned women and men seem to be equal in regards of treatment and rights.

Human Rights
In Turkey, there are little to no human rights protected for its citizens. In fact Turkey seems to be more concerned with promoting their economic growth. In fact the UN Convention has provided a policy for Turkey to take immediate action on their policies on torture and inhumane, humiliating and cruel punishment, to prevent the authorities from carrying out excessive methods of torture and use of force on the citizens. The UN has suggested that the authorities would pay restitution for those who were previously tortured by the authorities. The UN Committee also recommended increasing the number authority, training of investigation prosecutors and police, and establishing a police complaint mechanism. The UN also have concerns of the police and Gendamerie shooting citizens in Turkey as well as arbitrary power to stop and ask citizens for papers which usaully leads to violent confrontations. Another human rights issue in Turkey is freedom of association, which was a protected freedom in Turkey. the reason behind this was that the judge in the case felt that gay, lesbian, and other transsexual groups were violating moral standards and values of Turkey. Currently the case has not been decided because the prosecutor had called for the case to be dismissed, whereas the Governor of Izmir (where the case took place), Minister of Interior Bestir Atalay, and the prosecutor himself called for freedom of association to be protected. Clearly there are not as many rights protected in Turkey as the U.S. Where we have protection of speech, expression,association, and torture; Turkey advocates the exact opposite of each which is causing The UN Leaders great concern. Children also do not have rights in court. They are tried as adults even in protest they are charged for protest under the anti-terror laws.

title: Comparative law and justice/Turkey


text:
Comparative law and justice/Afghanistan

Part of the Comparative law and justice Wikiversity Project

Greg.botelho 17:23, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

Geographical characteristics
Afghanistan is a landlocked country located in Southern Asia, northwest of Pakistan, east of Iran. It has a population of around 30 million. The total area is 652,230 sq km. Its climate is known as arid to semiarid which consists of cold winters and hot summers.

Demographic characteristics, religious and ethnic characteristics
The sex ratio of the total population is 1.05 male(s)/female. The age structure is 43.6% 0-14 years of age, 54% 15-64 years of age and only 2.4% are over 65 years of age. The religions practiced in Afghanistan are Sunni Muslim 80-89%, Shia Muslim 10-19% and 1% other. It has two official languages, Pashto and Dari (Afghan Persian). Dari is spoken by about about 50% of the people and Pashto by 35%. Turkic languages such as Uzbek and Turkmen are spoken by 11% and lastly Bolachi and Pashai make up the remaining 4%. The ethnic makeup of Afghanistan is as follows: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%.

Brief history
In 1709, Mir Wais Hotak, a Ghilzai tribal chief, made much of the Afghan territory become independent from Persian rule. In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani created the modern state of Afghanistan. It was invaded several times by the British in the 19th century but remained independent. "A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist counter-coup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan Communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war. The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-Communist mujahedin rebels. A series of subsequent civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy". The UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new Constitution, a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. In December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan and the National Assembly was inaugurated the following December. Karzai was re-elected in November 2009 for a second term".

Economic development, health, and education
Afghanistan is one of the least developed countries in the world, with a $1,000 GDP per capita. Its GDP in U.S. currency was nearly 30 billion dollars in 2011, growing at 5.8%. About 78% of the Afghan labor force is made up of agriculture, followed by 5.7% industry and little over 15% services. The top exports are opium, fruits and nuts, hand woven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems. As of 2008, the unemployment rate was 35% and 36% of the population lived below the poverty line. The life expectancy for males is 48.45 years and for females 51 years which is 218th in comparison to the world. The birth rate is 20th in the world at 39.3 births/1,000 population and the death rate is 7th in the world at 14.59 deaths/1,000 population. The major infectious diseases affecting Afghans are bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, malaria, and rabies. The total education expenditures are unknown. The total school life for Afghan children is 11 years for males and 7 years for females.

Governance
The type of government in Afghanistan is known as an Islamic Republic. "The government consists of the ministers who work under the Chairmanship of the President." This government is based on mixed civil and sharia law. The government is made up of three branches, Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The Legislative branch is responsible for passing laws.
 * Law is what both Houses of the National Assembly approve and the President endorses unless this Constitution states otherwise.
 * In case the President does not agree to what the National Assembly approves, he or she can send the document back with justifiable reasons to the House of Representatives [Wolesi Jirga] within fifteen days of its submission.
 * With the passage of this period or in case the House of Representatives [Wolesi Jirga] approves a particular case again with a majority of two-thirds votes, the bill is considered endorsed and enforced.

According to the Constitution, "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam." Afghanistan's Constitution was drafted from December 14, 2003 to January 16, 2004. "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 Taliban, a fundamentalist group, took control of Afghanistan in 1996 and controlled the country until the US-led invasion in October 2001. Under the Taliban, women had very little rights. Education of women was outlawed and women were required to wear head-to-toe veils. The Taliban still has influence on some of the Afghan people and is still fighting with the US-led forces, including with the Afghan government.

Elections
The president and two vice presidents are elected by direct vote for a five-year term; if no candidate receives 50% or more of the vote in the first round of voting, the two candidates with the most votes will participate in a second round; a president can only be elected for two terms. The election system for members of Parliament in Afghanistan is called Single Non-Transferable Vote. In this system each voter casts one vote for one candidate in a multi-candidate race for multiple offices. Posts are filled by the candidates with the most votes. The President is elected directly by the citizens. The President has two Vice presidents which he or she will name. The following requirements listed in the Constitution must be met in order to become President: "(1) Presidential candidates should posses the following qualification: -- Should be citizen of Afghanistan, Muslim and born of Afghan parents, and should not have citizenship of another country. -- On the day of becoming a candidate, his age should not be less than forty years. -- Should not have been convicted of crimes against humanity, criminal act, or deprivation of the civil rights by a court. (2) No one can be elected as president for more than two terms. (3) The provision of this article is applied to the Vice Presidents as well . The minimum voting age is 18 and women now have the right to vote since the new Constitution was established. Voting is not required in Afghanistan, registration is slowed by violence against election workers and overall security concerns.

Judicial review
According to Article 121 [Judicial Review] of the Afghanistan Constitution: "The Supreme Court upon request of the Government or the Courts can review compliance with the Constitution of laws, legislative decrees, international treaties, and international conventions, and interpret them, in accordance with the law."

Courts and criminal law
As an Islamic law country, Afghanistan's trials are inquisitorial. The Judiciary in Afghanistan is composed of the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal and Primary Courts. "Article 40 of the Law on Organization and Jurisdiction of Courts: In the jurisdictional area of each Court of Appeals, there are these primary courts:
 * 1. Central provincial primary court
 * 2. Juveniles Court
 * 3. Commercial Primary Court
 * 4. District Primary Court
 * 5. Family Issues primary court

"Article 6: the case in two stages, primary and appeal. accurate application of law (to see if any provision of law is breached or accurately applied), unless it has been authorized by law to resolve a case taking into consideration the quality and nature of the case. 1. At the primary stage, with participation of three judges. Except less than three judges may decide a case when they are not available. 2. At the appeal stage, three judges shall decide any case. 3. At the cessation stage, shall take place by two or more persons " Please note there is no role for a jury as it is up to the judges to decide each case.
 * (1) The cases shall be resolved in courts taking into consideration the quality and nature of
 * (2) The Supreme Court shall deal with the referred cases of courts of appeal only in terms of
 * (3) Cases in courts shall be handled as follows:

The Supreme Court in Afghanistan is made up of 9 individuals. These individuals are appointed upon agreement by the President and the Wilusi Jirga. The President is responsible for appointing the chief of the Supreme Court. The court is separated into 4 separate Dewans: General Criminal Dewan, Public Security Dewan, Civil and public Rights Dewan and finally Commercial Dewan. The court also has a judicial advisors who "shall analyze and study the cases filed and provide a report to the judicial meeting for decision to be made. "

Article 25 of the Afghan Constitution states that the accused is considered innocent until proven guilty by the court. Article 31 deals with the defendants rights at trial: . The Constitution does not mention whether or not the defendant has to speak on trial.
 * "(1) Every person upon arrest can seek an advocate to defend his rights or to defend his case for which he is accused under the law.
 * (2) The accused upon arrest has the right to be informed of the attributed accusation and to be summoned to the court within the limits determined by law.
 * (3) In criminal cases, the state shall appoint an advocate for a destitute.
 * (4) The confidentiality of oral, written or telephonic communications between an advocate and his accused client are immune from invasion.
 * (5) The duties and authorities of advocates shall be regulated by law"

Punishment
"Most governments in Afghanistan's recent history have been opposed to the punishments of stoning, amputation and flogging and the practice was generally believed to be rare occurring only in rural areas. However, following the revival of religious sentiments after the Soviet occupation of the country, some armed Mujahideen factions encouraged these punishments in the localities they captured. Following the emergence of the Taleban armed political group in late 1994 and their military success against opposing factions, the application of these punishments has appeared to increase. The strict interpretation of Islamic law applied by the Taliban includes stoning for adultery, amputation for theft and flogging for drinking alcohol or committing minor sexual offences. Men accused of sodomy have been crushed under a wall which had been toppled on them. All these punishments have been inflicted in public in Taliban-controlled areas after manifestly unfair trials."

Fines and discretionary punishments can be administered for Tazir Islamic crimes or minor offenses. Although it does not specifically mention white collar crimes it seems it would fall under a Tazir crime. Depending on the evidence against a defendant in hadd, or most serious crimes, punishments can be sentenced to stoning. These offenses include theft, robbery, adultery, rape and fornication. These punishments used in Islamic countries and justified in the Quran. Surprisingly, murder is not listed as a hadd crime, the victim's family is responsible for deciding whether the convicted is to be sentenced to death or pay compensation. The imprisonment rate reported is surprisingly low at 44 people per 100,000. The prisons in Afghanistan are were terrible conditions in 2002 but have improved in the last ten years.

Law enforcement
The Afghan National Police (ANP) is a force which is responsible for policing the entire nation. The ANP is broken up into specific departments: "The ANP includes several distinct entities operating under the direction of the Interior Ministry. These police forces include the Afghan Uniform Police, which is responsible for general police duties, and four specialized police organizations: the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP), the Afghan Border Police, the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA), and the Counter Terrorism Police." This structure of policing is known as centralized multiple coordinated. The recruits do not seem to have any specific requirements as you will see in the information below that many officers are illiterate. In order to become a police officer in Afghanistan you must apply and go through training. "The Germans committed $70 million toward renovating the police academy in Kabul, provided eleven police instructors, refurbished Kabul police stations and donated fifty police vehicles. The first team of German police advisors arrived in Kabul on March 16, 2002, and the German Coordination Office was opened on March 18. The Coordination Office supervised the reconstruction of the police academy, which formally reopened on August 22, 2002 with 1,500 officer cadets enrolled in a five-year program.

In 2003, the United States took the more diplomatic tack of creating a separate program to provide “in-service training” to those who were currently serving in police roles. The U.S. State Department established a police-training center in Kabul to provide in-service training for Afghan police currently serving in the capital"... "Few of the American instructors were professional police trainers, and there was little or no use of adult-learning techniques. Because more than 70 percent of the Afghan trainees were illiterate, most of those trained received only the fifteen-day program. The inability of recruits to read and write inhibited their ability to absorb information and learn basic police skills, such as taking statements from witnesses, writing incident reports, and maintaining records." "In December 2006, a joint report by the inspectors general of the State and Defense Departments found that U.S.-trained Afghan police were incapable of conducting routine law enforcement and that American program managers could not account for the number of ANP officers on duty or for the whereabouts of vehicles, equipment, and weapons provided to the Afghan government. The report noted that the official Afghan figure of 70,000 trained police officers was inflated and that only about 30,000 were actually on duty and able to carry out police functions."

Police corruption is a very big problem. "While too few police may indeed be a serious problem in some areas, a more serious problem is that the local police that are present are often corrupt and ineffective, and as far as the public are concerned do more harm than good." The military of Afghanistan consists of the Afghan National Army and Afghan Air Force. The President of Afghanistan is the commander in chief of the military.

Crime rates and public opinion
Official homicide rates are unavailable for Afghanistan due to the ongoing war taking place there. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Central Statistics Organization website gives crime statistics however; the reliability of this data is unknown as there is no other data at this time to compare this with. According to these statistics from 2008-2009 there were 6,382 total crimes. The top crimes by category in Afghanistan at this time were injury with 1,499, theft with 1,496, and murder with 1,075. Afghanistan is the number one producer of opium in the world. In 2004, it set apart 131,000 hectares of land towards opium production which was the largest increase for Afghanistan from the previous year of 80,000. In 2007, 193,000 hectares was used for opium production which was its highest number ever. As of 2010, the land usage is down to only 123,000 hectares for opium production. The southern provinces grow most of the poppy plants and many of the northern provinces are poppy free. The Taliban as well as other antigovernment groups play a major role in the opium industry as it is a key source of revenue for the groups. In 2010, according to the World Incident Tracking System, the top types of attack were armed attacks at 3,144 incidents followed by bombings at 2,236 incidents. 84% of the incidents recorded were said to be carried out by religious extremist and the remaining 16% unknown. The use of IEDs or Improvised Explosive Devices is the principle method of terrorist acts. Drug trafficking is still the largest criminal activity in the nation.

Family law
The legal age to be married without parent's consent is 17 for women and 18 for men. According to Article 143 of the Discriminatory articles of Shiite Personal Status Law: "Man can dissolve the marriage contract if he finds her wife affected to leprosy, crippled, madness and blindness... Man can dissolve the marriage any time. While women can ask the court to dissolve the marriage if the husband does not provide maintenance, or doing harms which cannot be tolerated." Following a divorce, Article 194 states "mother can undertake the custody of her son until age 2 and her daughter until age 7. [In case of dissolution of marriage, after these ages, the children should be return to their fathers.]" Afghanistan, as well as other Islamic law countries, does not permit adoption. "The government's willingness to recognize the right to marry varied according to nationality, gender, and religion. The family court could register a marriage between a Jewish or Christian woman and a Muslim man, but the court required the couple to accept a Muslim ceremony. A woman of any other faith had to first convert to Islam before marrying a Muslim man. The court could not register a marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man. The court also could not register a marriage for citizens who stated they were not Muslim, even if they were born into other faiths. Non-Afghans could marry, and foreigners were permitted a civil ceremony as long as neither was Muslim." Afghan families are patriarchal, meaning the father make the decisions and families are also patrilineal meaning inheritance runs through the male line. “Women’s right to inheritance in Afghanistan may vary, depending on whether they are determined by Islamic and customary law. Under Islamic law, women may inherit from their parents, husbands or children, and, under certain conditions, from other family members. However, their share is always smaller than that to which men are entitled. This is commonly justified by the argument that women have no financial responsibility towards their husbands and children." Although women are discriminated in Afghanistan, all citizens are said to have equal rights regardless of race.

Human rights
The Afghan Constitiution mentions many specific fundamental rights. The following rights have been found in the Afghan Constitution. Some of the major rights the Constitution mentions are the right against discrimination, the right of equality and liberty. No citizen should be deprived of life except by legal provision. Afghan citizens also have the right to free speech, according to Article 34. The following article, 35, states that citizens also have the right to hold unarmed demonstrations. The Afghan people have the right to privacy in their homes and nobody can enter without permission from the owner or from the court. All citizens have the right to an education according to article 43. Citizens also have the right to work and choice of their occupation as long as it is permitted by law. Article 58 states that Afghanistan "shall establish the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan. Every individual shall complain to this Commission about the violation of personal human rights. The Commission shall refer human rights violations of individuals to legal authorities and assist them in defense of their rights. Organization and method of operation of the Commission shall be regulated by law." Although the Constitution specifically mentions right of equality, women are still being discriminated against. "Gender discrimination in Afghanistan is due to a combination of factors such as poverty, local traditions and the effects of war. Violence against women has been persistent in Afghanistan and is due to low status of women combined with long exposure to hostilities and conflict".

Rhetoric vs. Reality
Although Afghanistan's Constitution lists the rights that all Afghan citizens have, not everyone is guaranteed these rights. The reason for this is that the Afghan government suffers from severe corruption. According to research, "Drugs and bribes are the two largest income generators in Afghanistan: together they correspond to about half the country's (licit) GDP, said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa as he released the report today in London." Women suffer most significatly from discrimination. Since the United States entered Afghanistan in late 2001, substantial efforts have been made to improve the treatment of women. "So far, women have been allowed to return back to work, the government no longer forces them to wear the all covering burqa, and they even have been appointed to prominent positions in the government. Despite all these changes many challenges still remain. The repression of women is still prevalent in rural areas where many families still restrict their own mothers, daughters, wives and sisters from participation in public life. They are still forced into marriages and denied a basic education. Numerous school for girls have been burned down and little girls have even been poisoned to death for daring to go to school."

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Comparative law and justice/Afghanistan


text:
Comparative law and justice/St. Lucia

Part of the Comparative law and justice Wikiversity Project

Basic Information
Population-
 * 160,267 (est. July 2010)
 * 0-14 years old: 24.4% (Male 20,035/Female 19,021)
 * 15-64 years old: 66.4% (Male 51,593/Female 54,843)
 * 65 years old and older: 9.2% (Male 6,668/Female 8,107)

Area-
 * Total:616 Sq km
 * Land mass: 606 Sq km
 * Water mass: 10 Sq km

Location-
 * Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and north Atlantic Ocean, north of Saint Vincent & The Grenadines and south of the French Caribbean Island of Martinique.

Climate-
 * Tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds; dry season January-April, rainy season May-August

Coastline-
 * 158 km

Capital-
 * Castries

Religion-
 * about 80% Roman Catholic

Language-
 * English is the official language but a Saint Lucian Creole French is widely spoken

Ethnic mix
 * Black (82.6%)
 * Mixed (11.9%)
 * Other (3.1%)
 * East Indian (2.4%)

Blind population-
 * 2,276 (1991 census).

Deaf population-
 * 800 to 8,791.

Education
 * Education on St. Lucia is free and mandatory between the ages of five and fifteen. The literacy rate of the adult population has been estimated at about 80 percent. There are 83 primary schools and 24 secondary schools, which are similar to junior high schools. Many young people enter the work force after secondary school. Higher education is offered at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and at a branch of the University of the West Indies.

Brief History
Amerindian settlements of peaceful Arawaks were driven out by more warlike Caribs. Some artefacts and rock drawings have been discovered recently. The island was known as Hewanorra, 'the land of the iguanas' by the earliest settlers.

It is claimed that Columbus 'discovered' St. Lucia on St. Lucy's day (December 13th - the national holiday) in 1502, though evidence suggests he never even visited it.

English settlers in 1605 and 1638 were rebuffed by Caribs, but Spanish or Dutch expeditions may have been there first.

In 1642 St. Lucia was claimed by France and fighting for possession between France and England continued until it became a British Crown Colony in 1814. Changing hands fourteen times, prized for its beauty, St. Lucia became known as the Helen of the West.

Settlers who were mainly French developed a plantation economy based on slave labour. There is still a considerable French influence in the local patois (kweole), place names and French colonial style architecture. Today's population is largely of African descent. Eighty per cent are Roman Catholics though most other Christian denominations are represented.

Historically the economy was based on sugar, but since the 1920s bananas, cocoa and coconuts are most significant. Its banana crop accounts for seventy per cent of total exports from the Windward Islands, though the threat of dollar bananas from South America flooding UK markets is leading to some diversification.

Manufacturing industry is now developing with twenty per cent of the work force thus employed. Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner, about 243,000 visitors arrive in St. Lucia every year, with passengers on cruise ships accounting for 102,000 of these visitors.

Economic Development, Health, and Education
Health

General health trends in St. Lucia improved greatly in the 1980s. "Life expectancy increased 4.5 percent from 1981 to 1984, with the average for men and women rising to 72.5 years." "The improvement in infant mortality rates was even more dramatic for the same time period. Infant deaths under 1 year of age fell from 25 per 1,000 live births to 17 per 1,000, representing a decline of 32 percent. The mortality rate for those over the age of 65 was reduced by 23 percent, whereas the overall mortality rate fell by 20 percent.".

Environmental health indicators were also encouraging. Approximately 75 percent of the population had basic sanitation facilities in 1985, and 85 percent of the population had access to piped water. Expansion of waste disposal facilities continued in 1985 and 1986, and government inspection of sewage treatment facilities, food handling businesses, and schools brought corrective action in those areas.

Government
Saint Lucia follows the Westminster-style parliamentary democracy.

"St. Lucia is a parliamentary democracy modeled on the Westminster system. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor general, appointed by the Queen as her representative. The governor general exercises ceremonial functions, but residual powers, under the constitution, can be used at the governor general's discretion. The actual power in St. Lucia lies with the prime minister and the cabinet, usually representing the majority party in parliament."

Principal Government Officials

Head of State--Queen Elizabeth II

Governor General--Dame Pearlette Louisy

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs - Hon. Dr. Kenny D. Anthony

Ambassador to the UN--Chargé Olaf Fontenelle

Ambassador to the United States and the OAS--Michael Louis

Independence: February 22, 1979.

Constitution: 1979.

Branches: Executive--governor general (representing Queen Elizabeth II, head of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet. Legislative--bicameral parliament. Judicial--district courts, Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (High Court and Court of Appeals), final appeal to Privy Council in London.

Administrative subdivisions: 11 districts

Political parties: United Workers Party (incumbent); St. Lucia Labour Party.

Suffrage: Universal at 18.

Elections
"The bicameral parliament consists of a 17-member House of Assembly whose members are elected by universal adult suffrage for 5-year terms and an 11-member senate appointed by the governor general. The parliament may be dissolved by the governor general at any point during its 5-year term, either at the request of the prime minister--in order to take the nation into early elections--or at the governor general's own discretion, if the house passes a vote of no-confidence in the government."

Political Parties in Saint Lucia

The United Workers Party (UWP) was once the dominant force in the politics of St. Lucia. Until 1997, the United Workers Party governed the Saint Lucia for all but three years since their independence.

"The St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) won the first post-independence elections in July 1979, taking 12 of 17 seats in parliament. A period of turbulence ensued, in which squabbling within the party led to several changes of prime minister. Pressure from the private sector and the unions forced the government to resign in 1982. New elections were then called and were won resoundingly by Compton's UWP, which took 14 of 17 seats."

Judicial Review
St. Lucia has an independent judiciary composed of district courts and a high court. Cases may be appealed to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeals and, ultimately, to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The island is divided into 10 administrative divisions, including the capital, Castries. Popularly elected local governments in most towns and villages perform such tasks as regulation of sanitation and markets and maintenance of cemeteries and secondary roads. St. Lucia has no army but maintains a coast guard and a paramilitary Special Services Unit within its police force.

Punishment
The punishment implemented for many various crimes throughout Saint Lucia include prison sentences and fines. The country does uses fines and they are usually fit the crime that has been commited.The death penalty does exist in Saint Lucia although there has not been any executions. The imprisonment rates in Saint Lucia is 243 prisoners for every 100,000 people.

Legal Personnel
Courts

The courts in Saint Lucia are based off the Caribbean Court of Justice(CCJ). The CCJ is made up of seven different judges. The Caribbean Court of Justice was formed on February 14, 2001 by the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice. The agreement was signed by the following ten states: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago. Then four years later on April 16, 2005 two other states signed the agreement to become part of the CCJ. These two states being Dominica and St. Vincent & The Grenadines.

The superior courts are usually divided into two different groups - High court and Court of Appeal. They are summarily referred to as the Supreme Court. The High Court is where they have trials or court of first instance. "They have original and appellate jurisdiction over matters arising from the inferior courts." They have unlimited jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters.

"The Court of Appeal has the appellate function of the Supreme Court. They hear appeals from the magistrate courts, high courts and special courts."

Law Enforcement
The law enforcement in Saint Lucia is run by the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force(RSLPF). The basic training of RSLPF consists of seven different objectives. The objectives being:

 * Reduce crime, Disordewr and the fear of crime.
 * To enhance effectiveness and efficiency in crime reporting and investigations
 * To enhance the presence of uniformed police officers patrolling communities
 * To strengthen relationships with local communities and stake holders
 * To enhance and improve public satisfaction in policing
 * To create an enviornment to ensure the safety of all road users
 * To ensure that policing is delivered professionally with integrity and accountibility

The Mission Statement of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force

 * To provide a professional policing service and in partnership with all communities to create a safer environment for all people in St. Lucia.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Crime Rates and Public Opinion
In 2007, the homice rate was 16 for every 100,000 people

"St Lucia’s legal system, like most of the other Caribbean countries, is based on the English Common Law, with most of its statute law originating from the United Kingdom. The island’s constitution was drawn up on February 22, 1979, when it gained its independence from the British."

The Court System consists of the Magistrate’s Court, which adjudicates on limited categories of criminal and civil matters and the High Court, which handles major civil and criminal cases. Appeals from both courts go to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal, which is based here. St Lucia shares a Court of Appeal with other member states of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), called the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court It is presided over by a resident judge under the administration of the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean and sits in each island two to three times a year.

Click here for full crime statistics

Family Law
Applying for a marriage license in Saint Lucia has a few requirements. Some of these requirements include having your application notarized by the Attorney General. You must also have a passport and a birth certificate. You do not have to live in Saint Lucia to get married there but you do have to be there two days prior to a wedding if you are from another country. If you have been divorced before, you must show proof of the divorce. If you are a widow/widower you are required to show proof of the death certificate. Same sex marriages are not allowed in St. Lucia. You must be at least 16 years old to get married and if you are under 18 years old you must have consent from a parent. Women have full citizenship rights.

Human Rights
The Human Rights practices in Saint Lucia can be found HERE

There are no classes or categories of people that are discriminated against in the Saint Lucia government. The legal system says a lot about equality. You can really tell by reading the Human rights that everyone is to be treated equal and that everyone gets an equal opportunity.

title: Comparative law and justice/St. Lucia