The Mobile Court in Malakal has called on the government and partners to rehabilitate and renovate the state high court.
Last month, the judiciary dispatched a delegation comprising two high court judges, two prosecutors, and two legal aid to the state.
The team traveled to Malakal town on November 29th to handle pending cases including rapes, defilements, and armed robberies.
However, Judge Garang Ajak Deng says they found that the courtrooms have been destroyed during the civil war.
Garang says they are currently conducting court sessions at the Ministry of Local Government and Law Enforcement premises.
“We arrived in Malakal on the 29th of November after a report that there were pending cases within the jurisdiction of the high court. We adjudicated several cases, most of which are sexual assault cases committed by juveniles,” said Garang.
“Most of the accused sentenced were to reformatory schools. We dismissed ninety-eight percent, accompanied by Judge Mujahid Abdullah and two general attorneys, and two legal aid workers,
“The town began to recover from the effects of the war, but we found that the High Court was destroyed and burned because of the war, so it is difficult to send a judge to carry out the court’s duties,
“We call on the government and partners to help in the reconstruction of the court. We used the buildings and offices of the Ministry of Local Government to conduct court sessions due to the lack of buildings.”
The mobile court was established by the judiciary and funded by UNDP.
Judge Garang says the destruction of the court building by the vicious war has delayed the judiciary’s plan to send a resident judge to the area.
But he said despite the challenges, the Mobile court managed to hear more than 30 cases in one month.
While some cases were left for the customary court to finalize, it was raised to the high court for assertion.