In cooperation with the Judiciary of South Sudan, the Max Planck Foundation recently conducted a three-day workshop on ‘Judicial Ethics’ for a select group of Justices and Judges in Juba, South Sudan.
The workshop was facilitated by the Foundation’s experts from 24-26 October 2022 within the framework of the European Union funded project “Strengthening the Rule of Law in South Sudan”.
The workshop was officially opened by Hon. Justice Dr. Benjamin Baak Deng, Director of Learning and Training for the Judiciary of South Sudan, in the presence of Mr. Dionyz Hochel, Head of Political, Press and Information Section, and Mr. Gabriel Leonte, Head of Cooperation, from the EU Delegation to South Sudan, and one of the Managing Directors and the Head of Sub-Saharan Africa Projects of the Max Planck Foundation. The workshop was attended by 30 Judges and Justices coming from the various states of South Sudan.
On the first workshop day, the Foundation’s experts engaged with the Justices and Judges on the definition, core principles and foundations of judicial ethics, followed by a detailed review of South Sudan’s existing legal framework on judicial ethics. The workshop sessions thereafter focused on the six Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct from comparative and South Sudanese perspectives. On the third and last day of the workshop, the participants were presented with various case studies, which they vividly discussed based on their understanding of the previous days’ sessions. Throughout the workshop the participants actively shared their practical experiences and challenges in their daily work as Justices and Judges of South Sudan.
The workshop was officially closed by Hon. Justice Dr. Benjamin Baak Deng, who expressed his appreciation to the Foundation for conducting the workshop and to the European Union for its continued support to South Sudan’s Judiciary.