The East African Court of Justice (EACJ), in collaboration with the Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL), on Wednesday trained 20 Judges and legal counselors from the Ministry of Justice on good governance and rule of law in the East African Community.

Speaking during his opening remarks at Pyramid Hotel in Juba, Justice Nestor Kayobera, the Judge President of the EACJ, said the training aims at offering a clear understanding of how the EACJ operates because many people file cases that would have been handled in-country.

He revealed that the same trainings have been conducted in the other East African countries and that South Sudan is not an exception.

“We discussed this with my brother the Chief of Justice (Chan Reec Madut) the last time we were here but also with the deputy and the other judges here that let us organize this training so that at least you can have the same understanding of the community,” Justice Kayobera said.

He revealed that several people, including lawyers in neighboring Kenya, have been filing cases in the EACJ about South Sudan.

“Because the EACJ is your court, like it or not, people are filing cases against any of the personalities, not from South Sudan but even lawyers from Kenya. Many cases which have been filed against the Government of South Sudan are not filed by lawyers from South Sudan alone but by lawyers from the East African personalities,” he stated. “So, we thought it better, after the Republic of Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, and the Republic of Tanzania, that we also come to South Sudan. Not to teach you, we have nothing to teach you but to share experiences. And also we share about the rules or procedure of our court.”