Additionally, this report examines several issues for the 112 th Congress, which is likely to remain concerned with all aspects of U.S. policy toward Afghanistan, including authorizing and appropriating ROL-related programs and assistance, as well as oversight on policy implementation and effectiveness. By all accounts, the challenges in Afghanistan confronting ROL development and justice sector reform remain substantial. Interagency Planning and Implementation Team

Also newly established is the ROL Interagency Planning and Implementation Team (IPIT). These factors are a challenge not only among and between U.S. government entities, but also among the other international donors involved in ROL assistance in Afghanistan. Changes to the current coordination mechanisms in place or the relative participation of various U.S. agencies involved in ROL efforts may occur under the new CDROLLE and CJIATF-435, as both entities evolve. Most recently, the U.S. military has established a ROL field force (ROLFF), whose mission is to support jointly implemented civilian and military ROL projects in the field, including in otherwise non-permissive areas of Afghanistan. Major programs include the primary projects implemented by the Departments of State, Justice, and Defense, as well as USAID. Major Justice Sector Programs

The four major U.S. funded programs are the Judicial Sector Support Program (JSSP), the Corrections System Support Program (CSSP), the ROL Stabilization (RLS) Program, and the Senior Federal Prosecutors Program. The Defense Department is also increasingly supporting the training and mentoring of Afghan corrections and other aspects of the Afghan justice sector through Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435 (CJIATF-435) and ongoing efforts to transition detention operations in Afghanistan to the Afghan government. Supporters of such a policy approach have emphasized the importance of anti-corruption efforts in an overall counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy in Afghanistan, focused on improving Afghan perceptions of the Afghan government's legitimacy and transparency. Additional reported concerns included the following: 
The lack of both a formally approved ROL strategy and an anti-corruption strategy for Afghanistan limits the U.S. Embassy in Kabul from setting ROL and anti-corruption priorities and timelines, as well as identifying the appropriate number of personnel and needed skill sets, according to the State Department's OIG and SIGAR. U.S. Support to the Informal Justice Sector

Observers have described current U.S. efforts to support Afghan ROL development, including increased emphasis on the informal justice sector and other civilian and military efforts to improve access to justice at the provincial and district level, to be in many ways unique and untested, due the sheer scale of the programs involved, the low level of existing justice sector capacity, gaps in U.S. government understanding of existing dispute resolution mechanisms throughout the country, the absence of security in many parts of Afghanistan, and the existence of entrenched corruption at all levels of the Afghan bureaucracy. Proponents of the current U.S. approach to ROL institutions in Afghanistan would argue that it is informed by prior challenges and policy criticism and reflects a strategic evolution in the level of U.S. commitment, resources, and policy approach to ROL-related efforts in Afghanistan. Observers continue to debate, however, whether or to what extent these shifts in the level of U.S. commitment and resources for ROL efforts in Afghanistan will help the U.S. government reach its ultimate goal of developing a stable, capable, and legitimate Afghan government.
Developing effective Afghan justice sector institutions is considered by many observers to be essential in winning the support of the Afghan population, improving the Afghan government's credibility and legitimacy, and reducing support for insurgent factions. Such sentiments are reinforced in the face of growing awareness of the pervasiveness of Afghan corruption. To this end, establishing the rule of law (ROL) in Afghanistan has become a priority in U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and an issue of interest to Congress. Numerous U.S. programs to promote ROL are in various stages of implementation and receive ongoing funding and oversight from Congress. Major programs include the following:
State Department's Justice Sector Support Program (JSSP) and Corrections System Support Program (CSSP); U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID's) formal and informal ROL stabilization programs (RLS); Justice Department's (DOJ's) Senior Federal Prosecutors Program, which, with State Department funds, provides legal mentoring and training; and Defense Department's (DOD's) operational support through Combined Joint Task Force 101 (CJTF-101), as well as through Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435 (CJIATF-435).
It is difficult to identify all the programs, activities, and actors involved in ROL in Afghanistan, in part because of the continued evolution of U.S. strategy and interagency coordination for supporting the Afghan justice sector. Among the most recent shifts in strategy, U.S. efforts are increasingly resourced by a surge in civilian personnel at the provincial and district levels. To align with counterinsurgency (COIN) objectives, the U.S. government is emphasizing not only ministerial-level institution-building, but also projects to improve local-level access to justice, including projects to support informal dispute resolution mechanisms. Policy coordination among U.S. civilian and military entities involved in ROL efforts in Afghanistan also continues to change—including, most recently, the establishment of an Ambassador-led Coordinating Director for Rule of Law and Law Enforcement (CDROLLE) directorate at the U.S. Embassy, a General-led Rule of Law Field Force (ROLFF) under the CJIATF-435, as well as an Interagency Planning and Implementation Team (IPIT) to coordinate all civilian and military ROL activities in Afghanistan. Future shifts in policy approaches may also occur as policymakers seek to address growing concerns regarding Afghan corruption.
Observers debate whether or to what extent the increased U.S. commitment to and resources for ROL efforts in Afghanistan will help the U.S. government reach its ultimate goal of developing a stable, capable, and legitimate Afghan government. Many would argue that the challenges in Afghanistan to ROL development and justice sector reform remain substantial and many factors undermine prospects for success. Chief among these are ongoing allegations of severe corruption at all levels of the Afghan government, lack of overall security and stability, limited Afghan government capacity, the existence of competing justice mechanisms, and the persistence of traditional attitudes that perpetuate the perception that well-connected Afghans can avoid facing prosecution and conviction. These debates will likely continue in the 112th Congress, as Members remain concerned with all aspects of U.S. policy toward Afghanistan, including authorizing and appropriating ROL-related programs and assistance, as well as conducting oversight on policy implementation and effectiveness.