Stanford Law School

Founded in 2007 as a student-driven initiative, the Afghanistan Legal Education Project (ALEP) at Stanford

Law School develops innovative legal curricula to help Afghanistan’s universities train the next generation of lawyers and leaders. ALEP’s principal focus is researching, writing, and publishing high-quality, original legal textbooks.

ALEP has published three textbooks, which are among the first to specifically address Afghanistan’s post-2004 legal system: An Introduction to the Law of Afghanistan (2nd Edition), Commercial Law of Afghanistan, and Criminal Law of Afghanistan. A fourth text, International Law of Afghanistan is also now being taught at AUAF. Legal

experts in Afghanistan and abroad rigorously vet all of ALEP’s textbooks before the first publication. The ALEP team is currently drafting a fifth textbook,Constitutional Law of Afghanistan, which will be available Fall 2011. All of ALEP’s publications are available online for free use and distribution. Dari and Pashto translations are forthcoming. 

At its inception, ALEP formed a partnership with the American University of Afghanistan to design an innovative legal studies curriculum for the students of Afghanistan. ALEP’s curriculum not only teaches students about the

law, but also requires students to think analytically. More than two hundred students have completed courses designed by ALEP in conjunction with AUAF as of the Fall 2010 term. These are among the most popular courses offered at AUAF. Beginning in 2011, AUAF students who complete the full legal studies curriculum will receive a Certificate in Legal Studies.

ALEP builds support for the program through site visits to Afghanistan, conferences, and fund-raising initiatives. We host visiting professionals and hold symposia to improve the quality of the textbooks we produce. ALEP has obtained generous support from public and private sources, including a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of State.

---

A dedicated team of Stanford Law School students writes ALEP’s textbooks and runs the organization’s day to d

ay operations.

ALEP also has a postdoctoral fellow on the ground in Kabul who represents ALEP in Afghanistan,

supports our academic programs, and teaches several of our classes at AUAF. The current  fellow, Taylor Strickling, is a graduate of Georgetown Law School (’10). 

 ALEP’s faculty advisors are Erik Jensen (Co-Director of Stanford Law School’s Rule of law program) and Stanford Law School Dean Larry Kramer.