Introduction to the Laws of New Sudan
Background
To understand the law thoroughly and to appreciate them in the light of their development, one needs to trace them back to their roots, sources and origins. The laws of the New Sudan invite such an undertaking, as they are intimately linked to the needs and aspirations of men and women in the South Sudanese society. As society changes, we expect the laws to change as well.
Normally, laws are a reflectiion of a country’s constitution, but as the New Sudan has no constitution yet, its laws had to be built on resolutions taken at the occasion of the SPLM Convention of 1994 which later become the charter of the movement.
When on 16 May 1983, the second civil war erupted in the Sudan and the people of South Sudan took up arms against the national government in Khartoum, the leadership of the SPLM/A initiated the Punitive Law to regulate and govern the conduct of the armed forces.
In 1984, a committee headed by the late Major Gai and Joseph Oduho drafted the Penal and Discipline Law of the SPLA; signed by the Chairman - these laws remained in force until 1994.
Ten years later, the laws were repealed through the 1994 SPLA Act; however, the SPLM/A leadership later on reinstated the 1984 laws except for their civilian provisions, applying now only to the military.
In 2003, the 1984 Laws were repealed for another time and replaced by the 2003 SPLA Act. It should be mentioned that in 1995 not less than 23 committees had been set up by the leadership of the SPLM, amongst them a committee headed by Ayuen Alier, which was to concentrate on basic law, such as the Penal Code and Criminal and Civil Procedures. Eventually, there were 16 laws recommended by the convention to be drafted but after proof-reading, only 4 laws were published (with a lot of typographical errors).
In 2002, a law review committee was formed by the Chairman of the SPLM/A. It was headed by the Commissioner for Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development, Michael Makuei and its members comprised of Army, Police, Prison and Wildlife commissions that reviewed 16 laws and drafted 7 new laws, bringing the total number of laws to 23.
In order to allow more public discussion on the proposals made by the law review committee and to make amendments or changes of the laws possible, a 4-week long workshop in Rumbek was organized. However, many of the participants (and in particular, women) at the workshop were not happy about the way the discussions were being conducted. An issue was that the SPLM Chairman had turned them into provisional orders which was signed by the SPLM Chairman on June 26, 2003. These laws or ''provisional orders'' are still subject to endorsement by the National Liberation Council (NLC).
The Laws of the New Sudan to date
The following list shows the 29 laws which were signed by the Chairman on June 26, 2003:
Police Act
The Forestry Commission Act
The Traffic Act
The Nationality Act
The Central Bank Act
Advocacy Act
Wildlife Conservation Act
Wildlife Forces Act
The Insurance Act
The Judiciary Act
The High Judicial Council Act
The SPLA Act
Civil Procedure Act
Public Co-operation Act
The Code of Criminal Procedure Act
The Financial Institution Act
The Evidence Act
The companies Act
Cooperative Societies Act
Non-Governmental Organization Act
The Penal Code Act
The Prison Act
Interpretation of Laws and General Provisions Act
Timber Utilization and Management Act
Passport and Immigration Act
Institute for Developmental, Environmental Studies
The Investment Act
The Telecommunication Corporation Act
The Attorney General Chambers Act
Compiled by Dong Samuel Luak - Secretary General of South Sudan Law Society (SSLS)