Workshop on Mechanisms of Transitional Justice for Lower Courts of South Sudan

25 judges of High Courts and County Courts trained in transitional justice mechanisms

JUBA, 22-24 February 2018:

Representatives of the Max Planck Foundation conducted a workshop entitled ‘Mechanisms of Transitional Justice’, for the judges of the High Courts and County Courts of South Sudan. The workshop – implemented by the Max Planck Foundation and generously funded by the European Union – was inaugurated by Justice Benjamin Baak Deng, the Director of Training and Research of the South Sudan Judiciary.

This workshop provided the judges with a technical legal review of the legal framework and practical implementation of the different modalities of transitional justice, such as, truth commissions, reparation mechanisms, institutional reform, and judicial mechanisms. The workshop, which also provided the judges with comparative perspectives of the aforementioned methods from different jurisdictions, was characterized by lively debates among the judges, who identified best practices from the comparative examples provided.

Notably, the workshop had a wide outreach owing to the participation of several judges of the High Courts and County Courts situated outside the capital, Juba. The workshop was closed by the Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Sudan, Justice John Gatwech Lul, who expressed gratitude to the Max Planck Foundation for its continued involvement with the South Sudan judiciary.