According to a recent global survey conducted by Transparency International, during the last year, the Afghan judiciary and police were the recipients of the largest amount of bribes of any institutions in Afghanistan. Based on the report, 60% of Afghans reported that they thought the judiciary was the most corrupt organ of government.

After receiving news of the report, officials from the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Interior rejected its findings, claiming that the report was biased and exaggerated the level of corruption in the judiciary and police.

However, according to the report, 65% of the people that were surveyed admitted to having paid a bribe to the judiciary in one form or another at least once in the previous year.

With regard to the police, 33% of Afghans are of the opinion that the police are involved in corruption, and 51% admitted to giving a bribe to the police at least once during the previous year.

All together, the findings of Transparency International, a reputable organization often cited by governments and academics around the world, indicate that administrative corruption has increased in Afghanistan in the last two years.

When asked about the report, Bahawuddin Baha, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court's Criminal Court, admitted to the existence of corruption in the judiciary, but highlighted the recent examples of several judges being put on trial and convicted for corruption.

"We are rejecting the report, while there is corruption in the Afghan judiciary there is not as much as the report said. This survey is one-sided as our opinion is not in the report, so for us this report is incorrect and a false report," said Justice Baha.

Officials from the Ministry of Interior also criticized the report and questioned its reliability.

"Corruption exists in police institutions, but much less; we reject the report because this report is substandard," said Najibullah Danish, the deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Interior

In contrast, however, Azizullah Ludin, the head of the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption, certified the report and confirmed that corruption exists in large-scale within the judiciary and police.

"I can say that corruption exists in the Afghan judiciary to the extent that if someone has taken your cat and you want to go to court to get your cat back, then you have to give up a cow for your cat," said Mr. Ludin.

A number of legal experts were also unsurprised by the findings of the report, and expressed their confidence in its accuracy.

"Corruption exist in all government institutions at a very large extent, and I confirm the report a hundred percent. I have seen cases where due to the lack of a bribe no one addresses a file for many years, but where a person that committed a crime gives money for a bribe he is easily found innocent by the court," said Muhammad Tahir Hashimi, a Kabul University lecturer

Transparency International carried out its survey over the course of this year in 107 countries worldwide. Its findings show that bribery was much higher in developing countries than developed ones.