Challenges of Accountability An Assessment of Dispute Resolution Processes in Rural South Sudan By David K. Deng March 2013 Photos: David K. Deng This report presents findings from an assessment that the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS) conducted on the accessibility of local justice systems across six rural counties of South Sudan. The assessment included a comprehensive household survey that examined the legal needs of populations residing in the six counties and the legal services that are available to service those needs and numerous interviews with local justice service providers and users. David K. Deng is the author. Victor Bol provided research assistance. The views contained in this paper are those of the author alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the SSLS, Pact, or their donors. South Sudan Law Society (SSLS) Hai Thoura Juba, South Sudan Phone: +211 (0) 955 073 591 Email: [email protected] © 2012 South Sudan Law Society (SSLS) 1 About the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS) The South Sudan Law Society (SSLS) is a civil society organization based in Juba. Its mission is to strive for justice in society and respect for human rights and the rule of law in South Sudan. The SSLS manages projects in a number of areas, including legal aid, community paralegal training, human rights awareness-raising and capacity-building for legal professionals, traditional authorities and government institutions. Acknowledgements We would like to extend our profound appreciation to the wide range of people and organizations whose assistance made this report possible, first and foremost to the many government officials, community members, and legal professionals that took part in our interviews and surveys. We are especially grateful to the South Sudan National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for supporting this endeavor. We are also thankful to those external reviewers that offered their valuable feedback on the methodology and draft report, as well as the internal reviewers within Pact and the SSLS. Casie Copeland served as report editor and she, Godfrey Mupanga, Dina Parmer and rest of Pact’s access to justice team in South Sudan provided indispensable guidance and feedback throughout the research project. Emma Kandelaars assisted with the data analysis. This report was made possible through a grant from the International Bureau of Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) at the U.S. State Department. We would like to thank Michael Gunian, Mary Walz, Dianna English, and Chris Tatum at INL for their support through the project. ii Table of Contents About the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS)..................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................ii Tables .....................................................................................................................................................v Figures....................................................................................................................................................v Acronyms.............................................................................................................................................viii Map of South Sudan .................................................................................................................................ix Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................1 Recommendations .....................................................................................................................................3 To the Government of South Sudan................................................................................................................3 To Legal Aid and Rule of Law Institutions .....................................................................................................6 To the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the Donor Community......................................8 Chapter One: Project Overview and Context ..............................................................................................11 1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................11 1.2 Project Overview ........................................................................................................................14 1.3 Methodological Note ...................................................................................................................15 1.4 Sample Characteristics .................................................................................................................16 Chapter Two: Landscape of Justice in South Sudan ....................................................................................18 2.1 Legal Pluralism in South Sudan .....................................................................................................18 2.2 Challenges to Expanding Government Authority in Rural Areas...........................................................19 2.3 Strengths and Weaknesses of Customary Courts................................................................................21 2.4 Blood Compensation and Extra-judicial Settlements of Homicide Cases................................................26 2.5 Efforts to Expand State Presence and Better Regulate Customary Courts...............................................27 2.6 Special Courts, Mobile Judges and Other Ad Hoc Responses ..............................................................29 iii 2.7 Enforcement Gaps at the Payam and Boma Levels ............................................................................30 2.8 ‘The Prison Is Empty’..................................................................................................................35 Chapter Three: Challenges of Accountability .............................................................................................37 3.1 Inter-communal Violence and the Effect of Historical Grievances ........................................................37 3.2 Cattle Raiding, Abduction and Trans-boundary Crime........................................................................41 3.3 Gender Discrimination in Statutory and Customary Justice .................................................................47 3.4 Penalizing Resistance to Forced Marriage Under Customary Law ........................................................50 3.5 The Pressure to Resolve Marital Disputes within Close Social Networks ...............................................52 3.6 Catering to Patriarchal Interests in Rape Cases .................................................................................55 3.7 Girl Child Compensation ..............................................................................................................58 3.8 Excessive Use of Criminal Sanctions in Relation to Unpaid Debt.........................................................59 Chapter Four: User Choices and Perceptions..............................................................................................64 4.1 Accountability Gaps and the Accessibility of Complaint Mechanisms ...................................................64 4.2 Trends in the Use of Formal and Informal Complaint Mechanisms.......................................................70 4.3 Hypothetical Disputes and Preferred Complaint Mechanisms ..............................................................77 4.4 User Perceptions of Procedural Fairness and Outcome Satisfaction.......................................................84 Chapter Five: A System in Flux ................................................................................................................88 5.1 Blood Compensation and Capital Punishment in Murder Cases............................................................88 5.2 Attitudes on Adultery and an Approach to Reform.............................................................................96 Concluding Remarks..............................................................................................................................101 Annex I – Description of Project Areas .....................................................................................................104 Annex II – Glossary...............................................................................................................................113 iv Tables Table 1: Overview of Sample Population Table 2: Sample Characteristics Table 3: Time to Resolution for Physical Assault by Complaint Mechanism Table 4: Time to Resolution for Theft by Complaint Mechanism Table 5: Time to Resolution for Homicide by Complaint Mechanism Table 6: First Forum Preferences Table 7: Requests for Divorce by County Table 8: Dispute Trajectories for Spousal Neglect Table 9: Dispute Trajectories for Rape Table 10: Dispute Trajectories for Adultery Table 11: Dispute Trajectories for Homicide Table 12: Dispute Trajectories for Theft Table 13: Dispute Trajectories for Abduction Table 14: Dispute Trajectories for Physical Assault Table 15: First Assistance Preference for Physical Assault Hypo Table 16: Dispute Trajectories for Physical Assault Hypo Table 17: First Assistance Preference for Domestic