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Technical Legal Support and Capacity-Building for Parliamentary Committees, the South Sudan Bar Association, and the Faculty of Law at the University of Juba

South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, continues to face significant challenges in strengthening its legislative process and rule of law framework. Building on more than two decades of engagement in the country, the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law is launching a new project aimed at supporting three key pillars of South Sudan’s justice sector. The project, generously funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and running from August 2026 for 24 months, focuses on three interconnected components to strengthen legislative processes, professional legal standards, and legal education in South Sudan:

Supporting Parliament (Component 1): The project enhances the legal capacities of selected Standing Specialised Committees of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), particularly the Committee on Legislation and Justice, through capacity-building workshops, ad-hoc technical legal support, and the provision of specialised legal literature.

Strengthening the Legal Profession (Component 2): In cooperation with the South Sudan Bar Association (SSBA), the project addresses the regulatory needs of the legal profession. Most practising advocates in South Sudan were trained in civil law traditions but operate within a common law framework. Following a direct request from the SSBA, the Max Planck Foundation is delivering capacity-building workshops on topics of current relevance to practising lawyers and providing technical drafting assistance to finalise South Sudan’s first-ever Code of Ethics for Lawyers.

Investing in Future Legal Professionals (Component 3): Through a guest lecture series on constitutional and international law and the provision of specialised legal literature to the College of Law’s library, the project equips future legal professionals at the College of Law of the University of Juba to sustain the rule of law.

By combining comparative legal expertise with a strong commitment to local ownership, the project aims to contribute to a sound legislative process, an advanced regulatory framework for the legal profession, and improved knowledge among South Sudan’s future generation of lawyers — thereby reinforcing democratic governance and the administration of justice in South Sudan.