Group of Lawyers Petition Court about Extension of Transitional Period

A group of five constitutional lawyers in Juba on Monday filed a petition to the Supreme Court of South Sudan to challenge the extension of the transitional period of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.

On 14 September, the Transitional Government postponed the December 2024 General Election to December 2026, citing a lack of preparedness, a move that was approved by the peace implementation monitors, the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC) last Wednesday and passed by Parliament of Friday. The transitional period was also extended by 24 months.

The advocates who submitted the petition include Deng John Deng, Kur Lual Kur, Warnyang Kiir Warnayng, Ador Abraham Kot, and Santo Daniel Deng.

Addressing reporters shortly after submitting the petition to Chief Justice Chan Reech Madut at the Judiciary premises in Juba, Advocate Deng John Deng said they are challenging the legality of the extension of the transitional period and want the court to consider it null and void.

“We submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court in the Republic of South Sudan, we are challenging the legality and constitutionality of the extension of the transitional period for 24 months. As lawyers, we think that this extension is unconstitutional, is illegal and we demanding our government conduct elections within the timeframe,” Deng stated. “We submitted the constitutional petition to the office of the Chief Justice and we will follow up our petition on Wednesday this week. From there we will give more details.”

He said, “We want the court to declare the extension of the transitional period unconstitutional and null and void and we want the court to also order the government to conduct elections within the timeframe.”