Mobile court staff in Mayom County. (-)

South Sudan judiciary has established a mobile court in Mayom County of Unity State to resolve accumulated criminal cases in the area where justice is largely administered through customary laws.

The court will be present in the remote county until May 24, to decide forty-two different criminal cases including rape, robbery, revenge killing, and cattle raiding.

The court is made up of two judges, two defense lawyers, an indictment lawyer, a prosecutor and three investigators.

Since independence in 2011, South Sudan has struggled to establish fair and effective governance and rule of law institutions, according to the national law society.

“The court is going well, and today a person was sentenced to two months in prison for stealing goats,” said Prosecutor John Wani.

“There are four decisions ready to be pronounced, including murder and rape. The sentences will be pronounced in the next two days.”

In recent years, prosecutors and magistrates have been deployed to some rural areas of South Sudan, and several initiatives have sought to improve justice services for rural populations.

One of the programs was to incorporate women into customary court structures and addressing the historical legacy of conflict through various forms of reparation.

Prosecutor John Wani said the mobile court is supported by the Department of Rule of Law of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

A similar mobile court was launched in February 2024 in Koch County, of Unity State to ensure local communities have access to justice.

UNMISS says access to formal courts in many parts of South Sudan has been virtually non-existent since the beginning of civil war in 2013.