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DE RUEHKH #2158/01 2501457
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4446
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 002158 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SOCI PINR SU
SUBJECT:  Southern Sudan:  Chief Justice Lays Out Judicial 
Structures 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Southern Sudan Chief Justice Ambrose Riing Thiik 
described the structure of the Southern Courts and said that the 
system was beginning to operate throughout the South.  However, with 
little money and few qualified personnel, he admitted it was slow 
going.  In a meeting with the Acting Consul General (A/CG) on August 
21, Riing described a hierarchical, seven-tiered structure starting 
with two levels of traditional lay courts and ending with the 
Supreme Court of Southern Sudan as the final court of appeal.  The 
courts are now established, with the last, the Court of Appeals, 
founded in August.  Now, the judiciary is working to attract 
qualified candidates, including women, and sensitizing judges to the 
issues of minority, women's, and human rights.  End Summary. 
 
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From Village Chief to Chief Justice in 7 Easy Steps 
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¶2.  The first court for traditional issues is the Executive Chief's 
Court, which consists of three village elders and a jurisdiction 
that matches the chief's territory.  According to Southern Sudanese 
law, at least one of the judges must be a woman, but Riing admitted 
that this requirement has not yet been met anywhere.  These courts, 
basically providing a binding arbitration mechanism, are functioning 
and handle the vast majority of legal issues.  The court of appeal 
for the Executive Chief's Court is the Regional or Boma Court.  With 
five members drawn from the Executive Courts, it can review the 
lower court's decision and ensure it meets the standards of 
traditional practice. 
 
¶3.  The next court of appeal is the Payam Court, bridging customary 
and common-law justice.  The three lay judges are the first to rule 
on violations of the penal code, and they review traditional cases 
that come rising from lower courts.  Riing hopes that eventually all 
three judges on the Payam Court will be paralegals or even lawyers, 
but at present the standard is for the chairman to have had some 
form of formal education.  This court is the first level with power 
of imprisonment. 
 
¶4.  Appeals from the Payam Court go to the County Court, which is 
divided into three grades.  This court is run by legal professionals 
and makes its decisions based exclusively upon the English common 
law system.  After the County Court is the State Court.  Capital 
cases go directly to the State Court, although the County Court 
performs the magisterial inquiries and prepares capital cases for 
the State judges. 
 
¶5.  Any case on appeal from the State Court would go to one of three 
Courts of Appeal, roughly equivalent to a U.S. Federal Circuit 
Court.  There are three courts of appeal covering each of the three 
regions of Southern Sudan:  Bahr al-Ghazal, Equatoria, and Upper 
Nile.  Each Court of Appeal has three judges, and will eventually 
have a fourth judge as an alternate once there are enough qualified 
officials.  These judges were appointed on July 24 and took office 
on August 15.  Finally, the highest court in the South is the 
Supreme Court, with seven justices.  This court, rather than the 
national Supreme Court in Khartoum, serves as the court of final 
appeal. 
 
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Capacity Building:  Human Rights and Personnel 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6.  The A/CG asked the Chief Justice how the judiciary would ensure 
the standards of human rights and gender equality are met by the 
traditional courts, whose decisions are based upon customary laws 
that often are not sensitive to these issues.  Also, because the 
traditional courts use customary laws for individuals of their own 
ethnic groups, the A/CG pointed out that people from minority groups 
and internally displaced people are often disadvantaged.  Riing 
admitted that these are legitimate issues, but explained that the 
judiciary is already taking steps to address them.  He said that as 
early as 2000, the SPLM began human rights training for its judges 
in SPLM-controlled areas.  With respect to progress, Riing 
highlighted the as-yet-unfulfilled law requiring women on Executive 
Courts, and the fact that there 15 women judges in the County Courts 
and two women on higher courts. 
 
¶7.  Ring also explained that because traditional courts are based 
upon local practice, they are heavily influenced by precedence. 
Riing described a 2004 child redemption case in Rumbek where he 
organized a meeting of chiefs that decided to overturn change local 
custom in the interest of gender rights.  The case involved a man 
who refused to marry a woman carrying his child.  The woman married 
another man and they raised the child, a daughter.  When the girl 
turned 15, the man reappeared and demanded custody of the daughter, 
who now had value as she would be expected to receive a dowry upon 
marriage.  The chiefs ruled that the man had no right to the 
daughter because he had ample opportunity to claim her earlier.  The 
custom was changed to require a man to claim a daughter as soon as 
he learns of her, or before 10 years of age, whichever comes first. 
This was the first instance of traditional law changing to limit the 
rights of a father to redeem a daughter. 
 
KHARTOUM 00002158  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8.  Riing said that protecting the rights of minorities and varying 
ethnicities would be more difficult.  In urban areas, he said that 
the Executive Courts reflect regional ethnic diversity.  In other 
cases, the penal appeals court could review any traditional court 
cases to ensure the decision was in line with "justice, equality, 
and good conscience." 
 
¶9.  Riing said that the biggest problem facing the courts was human 
resources.  While judges had been appointed at all levels, most had 
little or no staff.  The government currently is sending individuals 
to Kenya and Uganda, including participating in a 9-month course at 
a Ugandan law development center, to train qualified candidates. 
Riing also expressed interest in possible exchanges with the U.S. 
He said the situation was not as dire as some had said, because the 
University of Cairo in Khartoum trained students, like him, in 
common law until the National Islamic Front closed the University 
after it took power in 1989. 
 
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Bio Note 
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¶10.  Ambrose Riing Thiik is a Dinka from Gogrial East in the 
northern part of Bahr al-Ghazal.  He graduated in law from the 
University of Cairo in Khartoum in 1966 and received a master's 
degree in law in England.  After serving on the Court of Appeals in 
1972, Riing entered politics and served as the Minister of 
Information and Culture in the first Southern Government, as well as 
a Member of the Southern Parliament with the ruling Sudan Socialist 
Union Party.  In the early 1980s, he was a political prisoner in 
Akobo for nine months, where he was visited by John Garang, who 
described his plans for rebellion and recruited Riing into the SPLM. 
 After he was released, Riing moved to England, where he organized 
the UK branch of the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission 
(SRRC) and raised money for the SPLM.  In 1994, he was put in charge 
of legal affairs for the SPLM, but refused the position of Chief 
Justice.  HE finally accepted the post of Chief Justice for the SPLM 
in 1999 and was appointed as Chief Justice for the Judiciary of 
Southern Sudan in December 2005.  Riing's family still lives in 
England. 
 
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