Workshop with Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs aims to strengthen rule of law in South Sudan
On 15 October 2018, the Max Planck Foundation and the South Sudan Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs kicked off their cooperation envisaged by the Memorandum of Understanding signed in July 2018 with a three-day workshop in Juba entitled, “Introduction to International Humanitarian Law.” The workshop’s opening ceremony featured remarks from the Deputy Minister of Justice, Hon. Martison Mathew Oturomoi, and the Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice, Hon. Filberto Mayuot Mareng. A representative of the Judiciary of South Sudan, Justice Benjamin Baak Deng, and the Max Planck Foundation’s Head of Sub-Saharan Africa Projects also welcomed the participants during the formal opening of the workshop.
Twenty-four legal counsel selected by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, including several legal counsel who are normally based outside of Juba, attended the three-day workshop. The workshop began with an overview of broad topics of international law such as sources of international law and the relevant branches of international law in times of armed conflict before moving into the core substantive areas of international humanitarian law.
All three days of the workshop were marked with active participation. Legal counsel engaged in lively discussions about the applicability of the core principles of international humanitarian law, humanitarian law in international armed conflict versus non-international armed conflict, and protections afforded to various categories of individuals under international humanitarian law. During the formal closing of the workshop, the Deputy Minister of Justice, Hon. Martison Mathew Oturomoi, noted that the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs will continue to work closely with the Max Planck Foundation to provide additional legal capacity building trainings to its legal counsel.
This workshop continues the project ‘Strengthening the Rule of Law in South Sudan’, which is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Max Planck Foundation.