The executive needs to increase funding to judiciary to exhaust case backlog

The judiciary in South Sudan is not only underfunded, understaffed but is also not fully independent to dispense speedy and fair justice.

The time has come for the executive to observe the doctrine of separation of powers and this requires the judiciary and legislature to be allocated enough funding to operate independently.

The executive has infringed upon the independence of these two important arms of the government, and this has rendered them in effective in the eyes of the population.

For the judiciary to be effective it must not be staffed with cadre judges or political cadres. In addition, it should be well staffed in order to dispense justice to all people irrespective of social class or political affiliation.

In South Sudan the judiciary has not lived to this expectation because since 2016 we have seen many notable judges out of frustration either resign from the bench or remain silent while unhappy.

The payment for judicial officers remains low and it’s the reason why they have in the past been resorting to industrial action to demand for what rightly belongs to them.