Najib Amin studied Law and Political Science at Kabul University, and became a lecturer in public law at Kabul Law School in 2002. In due course, he became an associate professor with research interests in Constitutional Law, Criminology and International Criminal Law.

In addition, Najib served in government positions which provided him with experience in public management in complex political contexts, policy formulation, law-making, and institutional development. From 2002 to 2004, Najib led the research and analysis department of the Afghan Constitutional Drafting and Review Commissions and later served as Chief Rapporteur and Academic Coordinator for the Constitutional Loya Jirga, which adopted the Afghan constitution in 2004.

In 2006, Najib earned a Master’s degree in Law, Development, and Economics from Bologna University, Italy. Between 2010 and 2014, he served as Undersecretary for the Cabinet and as Deputy Director General of the Office of Administrative Affairs. Najib also assisted the Asia Foundation with the design and implementation of Afghanistan’s largest public opinion surveys. In 2016, an international PhD program brought him to Leiden University. He conducted his PhD research at the VVI, in parallel to his work for the Afghan government. Since, in 2017 he was appointed as Commissioner for Administrative Reform and Civil Service, and Director General of the Civil Service Appointments Board. As such he oversaw public sector reforms and put together a merit-based civil service appointments system.

In 2021 Najib became his government’s focal point for the International Criminal Court (ICC), liaised with the ICC and facilitated inter-governmental coordination, mainly within Afghan justice institutions. Furthermore, Najib was the leading policy and content manager of all Jirgas and Loya Jirgas (national gatherings of leading politicians and representatives of customary and social groups) held from 2002 to 2020

The Ph.D. thesis Najib defended successfully in June 2023 is entitled State-Building, Lawmaking and Criminal Justice in Afghanistan, and is published by Eleven International Publishing.  As part of his engagement with the VVI Najib also taught in 2023 a course on ‘Law, governance, and development’ at Leiden University College.

Publications