Law note · Afghanistan

Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Articles 37 and 38 (Privacy)

cite Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004), Arts. 37 and 38 stage IN FORCE in force since 2004-01-26 kind Comprehensive regime binds public and private bodies reviewed 2026-08-29

What it requires

Afghanistan's 2004 Constitution protects communications privacy (Art. 37, including a voiceprint or other biometric identifier transmitted over a communications channel) and home inviolability (Art. 38) against state intrusion, but creates no personal-data-processing regime, no data-subject rights, and no supervisory authority for a private-sector app to comply with. A January 2026 Taliban penal-framework replacement of uncertain scope and unconfirmed content has been reported, but no source locates its text or a formal repeal of these articles, so this constitutional basis remains coded in effect.

When LexLint raises it

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What we found

Article 37, read verbatim in full, secured freedom and confidentiality of correspondence and communications from state intrusion absent legal authorization, and Article 38 made personal residences immune from entry or search without the owner's permission or a court order.

Neither article defines personal data, sets processing conditions, or establishes a supervisory authority; both are bare constitutional rights enforceable against the state rather than a comprehensive regime, the same shape as comparable constitutional privacy provisions elsewhere in this wave.

On 4 and 7 January 2026 the Taliban administration promulgated a wholly new Criminal Procedure Code and Penal Principles of Taliban Courts (119 articles), effective immediately with no public consultation, which multiple independent outlets describe as replacing the prior penal architecture and further undermining the 2004 Constitution's operative status; no source locates that new framework's text, so whether it addresses personal data or privacy at all could not be established, and no formal repeal or supersession of Articles 37 or 38 has been located, so this instrument remains coded in effect.

Primary source

Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
official text as republished by an academic constitutional-text database (constituteproject.org)

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