Kajokeji customary court chiefs urged to observe national laws

23 Mar 2015

Kajokeji customary court chiefs urged to observe national laws

20 March 2015 - An UNMISS human rights official recently advised customary court chiefs in Kajo-keji County, Central Equatoria State, to observe and follow South Sudanese laws that protect human rights during the course of their work.

Speaking during a two-day workshop attended by 23 customary court chiefs in the county, UNMISS Human Rights Officer Anthony Nwapa reminded that nobody was above the law.

“We aim to enhance jurisdictional awareness of customary court chiefs in order to harmonize traditional courts with statutory courts as enshrined in the national laws,” said Mr. Nwapa.

Ongwil Kwot Okumu, first magistrate of the county court, noted that the high prevalence of mob justice cases was a key challenge in addressing human rights issues.

Other challenges included banishing of suspects of witchcraft and their families by community members, he said.
Kajokeji County Commissioner Henry Kala Sabuni said it was vital to ensure that the exercise of human rights must still observe both judicial obligations and respect of boundaries to minimize a clash of responsibilities.

“You should avoid applying measures and penalties that contravene statutory laws,” Mr. Sabuni told the participants.

He urged UNMISS to extend such workshops to villages, pointing out that village chiefs could play a central role in addressing human rights challenges, because they were close to the grassroots population.

He added that all chiefs must implement and promote the state’s Girl Child Education Act of 10 December 2014, and that awareness should be created in all communities, so that those who violated the Act would have no excuse for ignorance.

Mr. Nwapa said that the other problems that confronted the county included widespread inconsistence with the Criminal Procedure Code, Penal Act, Transitional Constitution of South Sudan and the Local Government Act, including numerous violations of individual liberty, right to fair trial and equal protection before the law.

“Defendants of serious crimes are not accorded even the limited assurances of written records of their adjudication so that they may seek redress by appeal,” he said.

He attributed this to customary court chiefs’ little or no knowledge about the scope of their responsibilities in the administration of justice in the county.

"This lack of knowledge about the law has significantly undermined their capacity to adjudicate cases and often leads to the adjudication of cases that fall beyond their jurisdiction such as rape and murder cases,” he noted.

At the end of the workshop, the participants prepared a joint communique in which they pledged to rectify their weaknesses in their respective areas of engagement.

“We will fully respect and implement the laws of South Sudan, including the bill of Rights provisions of the Translational Constitution of South Sudan and the Local Government Act of 2009,” part of the resolutions reported.

“We acknowledge that we were adjudicating all cases that come before us without having due regard to our jurisdictional limits. We will, therefore, only adjudicate civil, personal and criminal matters that fall within our jurisdiction…” the other resolution continued.

Mr. Nwapa said similar workshops would be conducted in the other five counties of the state.