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Law on Attorney General Office Saranwali - 1967 - Official Gazette No. 73, published 1967/03/06 (1345/12/15 A.P.)

LAW
ON THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE (SARANWALI)
published in
Official Gazette No. 73
(No. 24 of 1345)
dated
1345/12/15 A.P. (1967/03/06)



Article 1:

For purpose of implementation of the provisions of this law, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

1 – Saranwali,[1] the high administration for public prosecution.

2 – Loyi-Saranwal, the Public Prosecutor of Afghanistan which is the person of the Minister of Justice.

3 – Marasatlal-Loai-Saranwal, Deputy-Public Prosecutor of Afghanistan.

4 – Saranpal, Assistant Public Prosecutor of Afghanistan.

5 – Tamiz-Saranwal, Aide (Moassesed) Associate Public Prosecutor for the High Court.

6 – Central Appellate Court Saranwal, Associate Public Prosecutor of appellate cases for crimes relating to civil servants and public security.

7 – Central Primary Court Saranwal, Associate Public Prosecutor for crimes relating to civil servants, public security, or the central offices of the Ministries.

8 – Provincial Courts Appeal Saranwal, the Associate Public Prosecutor for the province.

9 – Wolesswali[2] Primary Court Saranwal, Associate Public Prosecutor for the Woles-walis.

Article 2:

The Saranwali is organized in the Ministry of Justice under the supervision of the Loyi-Saranwal.

Article 3:

The Saranwali consists of the Loai-Saranwal, Maresstial-Loai-Saranwal, Saranpals, associate Saranwals, and a number of professional members and administrative officials.

Article 4:

Professional and administrative members of the Saranwali shall be assigned to every High Court, courts of appeal, and primary courts.

Article 5:

The Saranwali in provinces and woles-walis shall, like the representatives of other Ministries, discharge its duties under aegis of the respective provincial Governor and Woleswal in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Article 6:

Where a Saranwali has not been established, the Loyi-Saranwal, pursuant to the written agreement of the Ministry of interior, has the authority to assign the duties of Saranwali to the Assistant Governor, the chief of Police, or the administrative chief of the province.

Article 7:

A Saranwal of one court can be temporarily assigned to the duties of another court, on the proposal of the Provincial Saranwal and with the approval of the related governor.

Article 8:

The Saranwal and the police shall perform the duties of detection, investigation and the prosecution of crimes through their own professional members.

Article 9:

The Saranwal and the police for the performance of their duties can seek assistance of the inspectors of public health, construction, agriculture, communications and other technical officials in the government; and the said officials shall be bound to provide the necessary assistance.

Should the said officials disregard the duties assigned to them under this article, they shall be reprimanded therefor.

Article 10:

XXXX whose assistance as experts has been demanded in the course of investigation shall be duty-bound to provide the required assistance.

Article 11:

After the 22nd day of Meezan 1345 A.H., in cases brought before the supreme Court by the Saranwali according to the law, the Loyi-Saranwal of Afghanistan, or his Deputy or his assistants, shall appear at the Supreme Court to represent the Saranwali.

Article 12:

The police of a certain place shall commence the preliminary investigation and shall be duty-bound to dispatch officially and directly its report to the Saranwal of the place within 24 hours.

The police shall be bound to present the file (dossier) of the investigation to the Saranwali together with the arrived at results obtained.

Article 13:

The Saranwal shall be duty-bound to review the investigation conducted by police sources or by other judicial officials and when he finds it incomplete, to complete or conduct again the investigation or to return it to the initial source of purpose of completion.

Article 14:

When after the completion of the investigation the Saranwal finds that the original crime did not exist, he own can close the file and make a nolle prosequi of the crime. In Saranwalis connected to a province, the termination of a file shall be effected on the Governor’s order.

Article 15:

After completion of the case, the Saranwal refers it to the court, and when the court considers the case complete, it shall receive the file and issue a summons for the appearance of the accused to the police offices; and the police shall be duty-bound to summon the accused to be present at the court on the determined day.

Article 16:

Government agencies and public institutions shall be duty-bound to notify the Saranwali of the occurrence of crimes subjects to trial (Mohakemati[3]) and which are committed during the performance of duty.

Article 17:

Prosecution of crimes in the courts and representation of Haq-ul-Allah[4] shall be the duty of the Saranwal. Nonappearances of a Haq-ul-Abd party or the absence of a Haq-ul-Abd claim shall not hinder consideration of the case from he viewpoint of Haq-ul-Allah.

Article 18:

With regard to the prosecution of a criminal case from the viewpoint of Haq-ul-Allah, the Saranwal bases his decision on the conviction derived of the examination of the surrounding circumstances and grounds thereof. Notwithstanding demands of the civil anti on party, he can drop cases pursuant to the law which in his view are not subject to lawful prosecution. In a provisional or Walasweli Saranwali, the above-stated measures shall be taken on instruction of the governor.

Article 19:

In instances of misdemeanor and felony on fear of flight or the loss of evidentiary facts, the police have the right to put a lawfully arrested person in custody for investigation for 3 days. The Saranwal has the said right for 7 days. These measures shall be taken with the permission of the Provincial Governor or the Woleswal. The person shall not be kept in custody after the lapse of seven days unless permission for detention has been issued by the court, and this permission has been obtained through the Saranwal.

Article 20:

The Provincial Saranwalis shall, when necessary, inspect each prison and jail within their jurisdiction with the permission of the Governor, and shall present their reports to the Governor and to the high administration of the Saranwali.

Article 21:

The Saranwali must notify the police for the execution of a court sentence, after it becomes final, and supervise the process of its implementation with the cooperation of the police.

Article 22:

After the enforcement of this law, the Law Regulating the Attorney General’s Affairs, published in the Official Gazette dated 28 Qaus 1343 [Official Gazette No. 17, dated 1343/09/28 (1964/11/19)], and provisions of other laws repugnant to the provisions of this law, shall be annulled.

Article 23:

This law shall be in force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.


  1. [1]Saranwali is a Pashto term denoting “office of the public prosecutor,” while the term Saranwal denotes the “public prosecutor”.
  2. [2]Wolesswali is a Pashto term denoting the administrative subdivision of a province while Wolesswal denotes the administrative bond of this district.
  3. [3]Mohakemati offenses denote offenses punishable by court sentences after trial as distinguished from disciplinary measures which are imposed administratively.
  4. [4]Haq-ul-Allah literally means ‘right of Allah’ and refers to offenses against the public, or crimes, as distinguished from Haq-ul-Abd, which refers to torts or civil wrongs.


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