From 5 to 7 March 2025, the Foundation held its fourth workshop in a series of workshops on “The Role of the Judiciary in Elections” for all judges and justices of the Judiciary of South Sudan. The workshop, which was held in Juba, South Sudan, followed three previous workshops on the topic, which were held in September and October 2023 and May 2024. The workshop gathered 25 Judges from across South Sudan, including Juba, Wau, Renk, Aweil, Yirol, Kuajok, Gogrial, Nimule and Bor.
The workshop was officially opened by the Chief Justice of the Republic of South Sudan, the Rt Hon Chan Reec Madut. The opening ceremony was also attended by HE Timo Olkkonen, the Head of the European Union Delegation to South Sudan.
Over the three days, the workshop participants engaged in lively discussions on the role that the Judiciary plays in electoral dispute resolution from South Sudanese and comparative perspectives. The participants discussed various topics including key electoral concepts such as free, fair and democratic elections. The participants also discussed South Sudan’s legal framework on elections and comparative jurisprudence on electoral dispute resolution from countries in the East African Community and beyond. The workshop concluded with working sessions where the participants reflected on the overall workshop discussions and applied them to various case studies on electoral dispute resolution.
The workshop was conducted in the framework of the project ‘Supporting Constitution-Making, Legal Harmonisation and Judicial Reform in South Sudan’, which is being implemented with the generous financial assistance of the European Union.