Officials at the High Court in the Jonglei State capital, Bor town, on Monday, announced the resumption of work after two months due to a lack of judges.
The state High Court president, Justice John Yel Aleu, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday evening that hearings and trials started Monday as he assumed office after two months absentia.
“I left Bor for Wau town in May to preside over a special court set up for Warrap and Western Bahr el Ghazal State. Now, I am back, and yesterday (Monday) hearings and trial of cases pending final verdicts started,” Justice Yel said.
He added, “When I left, there were lots of cases pending trials and more cases were forwarded after me. There are hundreds of cases to deal with. We are giving priorities to remands, land dispute cases, and other cases will follow.”
The High Court official called on Bor residents to be patient and seek legal redress to their grievances, even with the delays in court proceedings.
“My message to the people of Bor is that they should be patient. Law should be allowed to take its course. No one should use force to get their rights even as there are delays at the Court,” he cautioned.
A Bor resident, Geu Daniel, said: “I have been following up on a case involving my land for over a year now. We are pleased that our judge is back to redress our issues.”
For his part, Bol Deng Bol, a prominent activist in the Jonglei State capital, Bor, welcomed the resumption, saying months without access to justice created feuds among the locals.
“Frankly, it has been a challenge because there is an accumulation of cases. Especially cases involving appeals from the lower courts. You know the nature of people around here involves lots of cases. Now that he (Justice Yel) is back I think he will be able to clear all the cases,” he said.