UN-backed mobile court to bring formal justice to conflict-hit county in South Sudan

Juba, April 14 (IANS) The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) announced Monday that it has supported the deployment of judges, prosecutors, and investigators to Leer County to deliver formal justice through a mobile court.

Leer County, located in the Unity State, Greater Upper Nile region, is among the areas hardest hit by conflict and has lacked access to formal justice mechanisms for over a decade.

The initiative, a joint effort by the Judiciary of South Sudan, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and the Unity State government, is set to begin Tuesday and will run through May 9.

"Mobile courts, while not a substitute for formal justice structures, play a vital and innovative role in restoring public faith in South Sudan's rule of law architecture," Guang Cong, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (Political) for South Sudan and Deputy Head of UNMISS, said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

According to the statement, the Leer mobile court will focus on adjudicating serious criminal cases, including murder, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV), Conflict-related Sexual Violence (CRSV), and forced or early marriage.

The deployment follows the recent training of 20 new investigators in southern Unity State, with specialised instruction on handling SGBV and CRSV cases.

On March 28, UNMISS facilitated the early deployment of prosecutors and investigators to begin receiving and processing criminal complaints, Xinhua news agency reported. More than 60 cases were reported prior to the court's arrival, with additional filings expected in the coming days. The court is set to handle both criminal and civil cases.

Judges withdrew from Unity State in 2013 due to ongoing conflict and insecurity, leaving residents to rely exclusively on customary courts, even for serious crimes outside their jurisdiction.

These mobile courts, which have been previously deployed in Unity, Western Bahr El Ghazal, and Warrap states in 2024 and 2023, are transforming justice delivery, changing attitudes towards sexual violence and children's rights, and instilling hope in communities that fair trials are possible and perpetrators face justice.

--IANS

int/as