Western Equatoria State’s Mundri West County authorities in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Monday launched a mobile court to tackle a substantial backlog of cases.
Speaking during the launch on Monday, county commissioner Zilipher Dawa welcomed the move and encouraged citizens to come forth with their cases.
“Today we come here to launch officially so that you start your work. I am calling on the community, if you have any cases that have not been tried come out or you have not gotten justice, here is the time. Let no one fear because it’s the right time. If it’s land issues or what just come out that is why we are opening this office,” she said.
The head of the judges, Andrew Joshua said they will be in Mundri for a month to clear the backlog of cases.
He appealed to the residents to cooperate with the court although the process had been slow.
“We the team of the Mobile Court has come here on 29th of last month. We have three judges, three prosecutors, and three advocates to come and look at the backlog cases here. This is our mandate,” he said.
Joshua urged those with pending court cases to ensure their witnesses are available due to the limited time the court will be in the county.
Mobile courts are formal courts deployed from place to place to hear cases and ensure justice for both criminal prosecutions and civil disputes.
They are a stop-gap mechanism to assist the government in re-establishing the formal justice system in parts of South Sudan and temporarily responding to shortages of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers.