Abdul Salam Azimi

Who is Abdul Salam Azimi?

Abdul Salam Azimi is the Chief Justice of Afghanistan and, as such, the head of the Afghan Supreme Court since May 2006.

A former professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in the United States, Azimi served as legal advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and assisted with writing the 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan. He is an ethnic Pashtun of the Alizai tribe. Azimi has a daughter and two sons, one being Abdul Ghafar Azimi whom studied in Omaha,Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

As chief justice, Azimi replaced Faisal Ahmad Shinwari, a conservative Islamic cleric with no higher education. Azimi, in contrast, is reported to have gained a reputation as a fair-minded moderate active in upholding the rule of law and improving the country's dilapidated legal system.