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South Sudan to appoint judges in EACJ divisions

Monday March 20 2017
eacj

The East African Court of Justice in session. South Sudan is set to appoint judges to sit in the First Instance Division and the Appellate Division of the court. PHOTO | FILE

South Sudan will soon appoint a judge to sit in the First Instance Division of the Arusha-based East African Court of Justice (EACJ).

EACJ judges are usually appointed by the East African Community Heads of State Summit on the recommendation of partner states. Juba will also host a sub-registry of the court like the other capital cities of the other East Africa Community partner states.

Later, the country will also appoint a judge to the Appellate Division of the EACJ once the relevant law is amended to raise the number of judges from five to six.

These were some of the issues agreed on during discussions between South Sudan’s Chief Justice Chan Reec Madut and an EAC delegation led by Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko in Juba recently.

The delegation informed Mr Madut that all relevant legal instruments will be amended to accommodate South Sudan, which joined the Community in September 2016.

The EACJ is the judicial arm of the Community. The court’s jurisdiction is limited to the interpretation of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC.

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At a meeting with South Sudan’s Presidential Advisor on Economic Affairs, Aggrey Tisa Sabuni, the EAC delegation was informed that South Sudan’s parliament had elected nine members of parliament who would represent the country at the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).

The nine MPs will join their EALA counterparts from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania in making laws for the Community.

According to Mr Sabuni, the legislators were drawn from the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Army and other political parties.

The EAC delegation also met with the governor of the Bank of South Sudan, Othom Ra go Ajak, whom they informed that the implementation of the East African Monetary Union Protocol was underway.

The EAC Secretariat had drafted two Bills — the East African Monetary Institute Bill and the East African Statistics Institute Bill — that will be considered by the 35th Ordinary Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers to be held in Arusha on March 30 - April 4.

The East African Monetary Institute is a transitional mechanism to the East African Central Bank which will issue the single currency expected to be in place by the year 2024.

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