Chief Justice Chan Reec Madut - File Photo: Madrama James/Eye Radio

South Sudan Chief Justice said the government is working to make English the official language of trial in the judicial system in accordance with the transitional constitution.

Chan Reech Madut said the transition to English language will not be easy as the country just broke away from Sudan.

Madut said the process will involve administering English course to judges and lawyers – a step which he said would be taken slowly to avoid punishing Arabic-speaking government employees.

“It’s not the fault of the young people who don’t know English they shouldn’t be punished because they don’t know English,” he said.

“We can’t change the situation overnight. It has to be a smooth change. We subjected them to some English courses.”

According to International Commission of Jurists, the legal profession in South Sudan is fragmented between lawyers of differing education and legal systems.

According to the ICJ report, this is between advocates with a civil law and Sharia background (mainly trained in Arabic in Sudan), and lawyers and legal practitioners trained in the diaspora under a variety of legal systems.

He further stated that the judiciary is undertaking reforms including considering the welfare of the judges, capacity building and pension.

“We also have talked about the judiciary welfare like salary, medical treatment and pension and transport. We are working to improve the issue of good salaries like the rest of the world.”

“Pension is one of the challenges we are still facing, and it is in our reform program.”

Madut was speaking during a meeting of the Judicial Reform Committee (JRC) in Juba on Friday.

The government launched the Judicial Reform Committee on 28 July 2022, to review laws and advise on judicial reforms and restructuring of the judiciary.

Others are working towards the separation of powers, independence of the judiciary and the supremacy of the rule of law in South Sudan.

On his part, Justice James Ogoola, the chairperson of the 12-member committee, said they working to improve in judiciary system.

“As judiciary reform committee of South Sudan, our mandate is to reform the system by determining the area which needs improvement to make the system efficient and active to deliver justice,” said Ogoola.

There are only 22 active judges out of 30 in the High Court and County Courts and 19 active ones out of 43 magistrates in South Sudan.