Overview

Founded in 2007 as a student–driven initiative, the Afghanistan Legal Education Project at Stanford Law School (ALEP) develops innovative legal curricula to help Afghanistan's universities train the next generation of lawyers and leaders. ALEP has developed an extensive law curriculum at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) with strong support from the US State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.

Most recently, the two schools developed a certificate in legal studies program at AUAF, which graduated its first class in the spring of 2012. Approximately 200 students enrolled in the program and every class was oversubscribed, attesting to the great need and demand for quality legal education in Afghanistan. Stanford and AUAF will do even more to meet that need going forward as they establish a new program whose graduates will earn a Bachelors of Arts and Bachelors of Laws at the culmination of their studies.

The new degree-granting program will build on the success of the certificate program and use textbooks written by Stanford Law students that have been vigorously vetted by Stanford faculty, AUAF law faculty, senior judges, and lawyers in Afghanistan. Since 2007, ALEP has published four textbooks, which are among the first to specifically address Afghanistan's post-2004 legal system: An Introduction to Afghan Law (now in its second edition), Afghan Commercial Law, Afghan Criminal Law and International Law from an Afghan Perspective. Two additional textbooks- Professional Responsibility and Constitutional Law- are currently in production. All of ALEP's publications are available online for free use and distribution on the ALEP website under "Publications." Dari and Pashto translations are forthcoming.

True to its founding, Stanford students continue to play a vital role in ALEP's success. After completing a rigorous introduction to development work through the State-Building and Rule of Law Workshop, students author textbooks under the direction of a faculty supervisor. They spend countless hours revising, hosting visiting professionals and holding symposia to improve the quality of the textbooks. Additionally, students build support for the program through site visits to Afghanistan, conferences, and fundraising initiatives.

ALEP has obtained generous support from public and private sources, including generous grants from from INL at the State Department.

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