Omar Sadr and Adam Baczko discuss the Taliban courts and how their legal outlook provided them a breakthrough in the conflict.
Originally published in French and recently translated into English by Oxford University Press in 2023, “The Taliban Courts in Afghanistan” tackles some of the most compelling questions about justice and authority in conflict zones, particularly Afghanistan.
Adam, a Research Associate Professor at the Center for International Studies, Sciences Po Paris, delves deep into the complex relationship between judicial power and political legitimacy. At the heart of his research lie two crucial questions: How does an armed movement convince a population that its judicial decisions are legitimate rather than purely political? And how did Taliban judges, who simultaneously embodied both judicial and militant roles, establish their authority within communities?