Lack of judges and a detention facility in Duk Pagak County of South Sudan’s Jonglei State is denying citizens’ access to justice, a local official said on Monday.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, the county commissioner, James Yien Jal said they are lacking a competent judge to handle cases among communities in the greater Duk areas.

“In Duk, there are many cases such as cattle thefts and murders. But there are no judges to handle such cases. Now, there are over 50 inmates in Duk Padiet, while in Duk Pagak, there were 20 suspects but they escaped due to lack of a detention facility,” said Yien.

He decried lack of judges, saying it creates feuds among the locals.

The country’s judiciary is a constitutionally mandated government branch that oversees the court systems. The Judiciary is responsible for deployment of judges to the states.