KABUL- On July 16 according to the Latvian Ministry ofForeign Affairs, Latvia's Special Representative in Afghanistan and politicaland development advisor to the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs RudolfsBremanis signed an "agreement with the Agency for Technical Co-operationand Development (ACTED) on procedures for the allocation of financing andexecution of works in relation to the next Latvian assistance project inAfghanistan, in the province of Faryab, on the construction and furnishing ofthree court buildings, and training for judges and employees."
The costs of the project is a total of 500,000euro, of which 100,000 are allocated by the Latvian Government and ForeignMinistry, and EUR 400,000 are co-financed by the European Commission, which hasdeclared strengthening the rule of law to be one of its priorities inAfghanistan.
The project provides for the constructionof new court buildings, specifictraining course for judges, so as to broaden understanding and knowledge aboutthe basic principles of the rule of law and judicial procedures.
The decision to select Faryab was basedon two main selection criteria set by the European Commission, namely: thecourt needs to own a specific plot of land on which buildings can be erected,and priority is given to the courts with the largest number of cases heard. Previouscourt sittings and case hearings in these and other districts of Faryab, aswell as in most of the country, took place very poor and inadequate conditionsin war-torn buildings.
Support for this project was alsoreceived from the leadership of Afghanistan'sHighest Courtin Kabul, and from the Governor of the province of Faryab, Abdul Haq Shafaq.
This is the second project in Afghanistan to be supported by Latvia.
The first Latvia-financed development projecton water supply was implemented and successfully completed on 29 May in theAlmar district of the province.
