from RAJI BASHIR in Khartoum, Sudan
Sudan Bureau
KHARTOUM, (CAJ News) – THE deployment of a mobile court to probe alleged sexual and gender-based violence including conflict-related sexual violence offences is a legal breakthrough in South Sudan.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is supporting the judiciary of South Sudan and the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to deploy the first mobile court to Renk Town from January 30 to February 22.
The court will try 52 serious cases for inmates held in the Renk County Prison since 2021.
Of these, 12 include sexual and gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence offences.
This initiative will allow South Sudan to dispense formal justice to its citizens irrespective of where they live and to hold perpetrators accountable.
Mobile courts provide a temporary extension of the formal judicial system, deliver justice directly to underserved communities, and reinforce the rule of law where it is most needed.
Nicholas Haysom, the Special Representative of the Secretary General to South Sudan and Head of UNMISS, hailed the mobile courts as an innovative solution for the delivery of justice to South Sudanese citizens and to build credibility and trust in the rule of law.
“The outcomes of past mobile courts, supported by UNMISS, have led to new cases being registered by people who have more confidence that justice will be served.”
For the mobile court in Renk, the judiciary of South Sudan will deploy two High Court Judges, including one female, from Juba and Wau to Renk Town.
The mobile court will utilise existing judicial actors and prosecutors, investigators and other police officers to conduct investigations of the cases under trial, present cases in court, and provide security to the judges and detainees.
The mobile courts have been previously deployed in Unity, Western Bahr El Ghazal, and Warrap in 2024 and 2023.
– CAJ News