A survey conducted by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul measuring the public's trust toward legal and judicial organs in 17 provinces around the country indicated that western Herat province was above and beyond all others in the confidence its residents have in the integrity of their provincial law enforcement.
This survey comes just a few months after Transparency International ranked the Afghan judiciary as one of the most corrupt in the world. Based on Transparency International's report, 60 percent of Afghans said the judiciary was the most corrupt part of their government.
The recent survey conducted by the U.S. Embassy then stands in stark contrast, or at least in Herat it does.
According to the study, 79 percent of Herat residents believe their cases have been processed thoroughly and transparently by the courts in the province, while in the other 16 provinces surveyed this figure averaged 52 percent.
"The USAID Rule of Law Department has conducted a survey, and Herat appellate court was found to be at the top of the courts in seventeen provinces," Chief of Herat's appellate court Judge Syed Abdul Ghafar Zubari boasted. "Even 94 percent of the people expressed satisfaction with the activities of the appellate court in Herat."
Over the last one year several employees of Herat appellate court have been arrested on charges of bribery. Zubari recognized the existence of corruption, but maintained it was not as much of a problem as it was elsewhere in the country.
Chairman of Herat's Defense Lawyers Association Mohammad Nabi Naderi said public trust in law enforcement in Herat has increased. He maintained that in the past, people were often referring their cases to the traditional and local tribal courts and even to courts of armed insurgents.
"We still have some problems, you know that some districts in Herat are insecure and the courts are practically non-functioning in these districts...these issues sometimes force people to refer their cases to local courts," Naderi acknowledged. "But inside Herat City, the courts are working effectively."