'Ghulami' Legitimised, Clerics Above The Law: Why The Taliban's New Criminal Code Is Under Fire

Last Updated:January 27, 2026, 21:26 IST

The 'Criminal Procedure Code for Courts' divides Afghan society into four social tiers: religious scholars, elite, middle class, and lower class with specific punishment for each

The Taliban has formalised a class-based justice system in Afghanistan as part of its new criminal code, which has sparked global outrage and come under sharp criticism from human rights groups.

Supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has enacted a new Criminal Procedure Code, which formalises a hierarchical class system within Afghanistan’s judiciary and, in doing so, provides complete immunity to the religious scholars and mullahs.

Signed on January 4, the 119-article document establishes four distinct social tiers effectively granting legal immunity and mere admonition to religious scholars while mandating severe corporal punishment and imprisonment for the lower classes. The new code legitimises ghulami, or slavery, while institutionalising gender-based violence by explicitly allowing masters and husbands to perform discretionary punishments on subordinates and spouses.

Human rights organisations, including the exiled group Rawadari, have condemned the law while critics have reportedly described it as a “document proclaiming the conviction of all citizens". The Resistance Front (NRF) has likened the new structure to a rigid varna system, where the clerical elite are rendered “untouchable" by the law, as per reports. Many other critics called this a return to what some political factions have described as conditions “far worse than the Middle Ages".

WHAT DOES THE CODE SAY?

Human rights experts and former Afghan officials reportedly raised alarms over how the measures in the new code systematically dismantle modern legal protections.

The code effectively abolishes legal equality and the presumption of innocence. It replaces international human rights standards with a rigid, discriminatory structure that prioritises social status over the nature of the crime.

According to sources and human rights groups, the document lacks provisions for defence lawyers, the right to remain silent, or the right to compensation, relying instead on confessions and testimony. It prioritises the Hanafi Sunni system as the only valid interpretation of Islam further marginalising diverse sections of the population, the sources said.

By removing these fundamental rights to defence, the regime has effectively replaced the principle of “equality before the law" with a system where justice is a privilege of the elite. 

WHAT IS THIS CLASS-BASED SYSTEM?

The ‘Criminal Procedure Code for Courts’, or ‘De Mahakumu Jazaai Osulnama’, explicitly divides Afghan society into four hierarchical categories: religious scholars (ulama), the elite (ashraf or aristocrats), the middle class, and the lower class.

Under Article 9, the severity of a sentence is determined by the offender’s class rather than the crime itself. There are specific punishments for each tier.

Here’s all you need to know:

Religious scholars and mullahs: Occupying the top tier, they enjoy near-total immunity. If they commit a crime, they receive only advice or a “respectful notification" from a judge with no summons, arrest, or imprisonment mentioned in most cases.The elite: This group, including tribal elders and military commanders, may receive summons and advice.Middle classes: Citizens in this category face imprisonment for offences.Lower and ordinary classes: Those at the bottom of the social ladder suffer the harshest penalties, including imprisonment plus corporal punishment, such as flogging.Ghulami: The law further codifies the status of “slaves" (ghulam), with Article 15 stating that discretionary punishment (ta’zir) applies whether a criminal is “free or a slave". Alarmingly, Paragraph 5 of Article 4 specifies that while fixed punishments (hudud) are executed by the state, ta’zir punishments can be carried out by a “husband" or a “master" (badaar).

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