Matiop Kwai – The Relationship Between Legal Representation and Access to Justice in South Sudan

Abstract: This article aimed to examine the relationship between legal representation and the access to justice in South Sudan. Access to justice simply mean the ability of a person or litigant to get access to a court of law and to have his legal grievance fully heard without distinction as to age, gender, ethnicity, religion, economic or social status in the society. The author achieved this through content analysis of the laws on access to justice and the precedents. The research found that the UDHR 1948 and Transitional Constitution provides everyone the right to be represented by a lawyer of their own choosing or have the State provide legal aid to him when he cannot afford to hire a lawyer to defend them. However, South Sudan Constitution discriminatively negates this right by qualifying the provision of free legal aid to indigents accused persons on the basis of the seriousness of a crime they are charged not on their inability to hire a lawyer to represent them in the trial. The same law also excludes an indigent party in a civil case from provision of legal aid. This writer found this to be discriminatory on the basis of a person’s economic status in the society hence violation of the right to equality and equal protection of the law provided in the national, regional and international human rights law. The paper also evidently found existence of a correlation between the right to legal representation and the right of access to justice because a person can only be said to have been fairly heard when he speaks through a lawyer. The article recommends to the Revitalized Transitional Parliament, inter alia, amendment of Article 19(7) of the Transitional Constitution to allow provision of free legal aid to an indigent accused in criminal and a party in civil trials on the basis of his indigence, not on the basis of seriousness of the offence or civil nature of his case, the University of Juba School of Law to establish a Legal Aid Centre and to pass the 2018 Legal Aid Bill into law. 

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PaanLuel Wël

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PaanLuel Wël is the founder and editor-in-chief of PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd, a news website that covers news, opinions, analysis, history, culture and literature of South Sudan and the world. Founded in July 2011 by PaanLuel Wël to create a platform for free expression and constructive dialogue, the website features articles from various contributors, including columnists, commentators, poets, authors, activists and academics. PaanLuel Wël believes that media can play a vital role in informing, educating and empowering the people to participate in nation-building and social transformation. He also believes that media can foster a culture of dialogue, tolerance and diversity among different communities and groups, and hopes to inspire and mentor the next generation of South Sudanese writers and journalists.

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