How did the Taliban gain the trust of the Afghan population through decades of conflict? How did they put themselves in a position to regulate social relations? And with what consequences for Afghan society? Based on his book Taliban Courts in Afghanistan. Waging War by Law, Adam Baczko will demonstrate that the movement achieved this not merely through military force or ideology, but by building a legal order. While the international coalition sponsored a corrupt and inadequate justice system, the Taliban established hundreds of courts across the countryside. By emphasizing due process, impartiality of judges, and the enforcement of verdicts, these courts became one of the few predictable institutions in the daily lives of Afghans. 

Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted between 2010 and 2016 across multiple Afghan provinces, with rare access to Taliban judges and court users, Adam Baczko’s book rethinks the place of law and courts in contexts of civil war. It also sheds new light on why Western intervention failed and how the Taliban ultimately took over the country.