Judge Says His Resignation From Court Driven By Honesty

This article was last updated on May 25, 2022

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Justice John Clement Kuc cited bad administration, corruption, nepotism and favoritism in the judiciary as reasons for his resignation.

He also highlighted the need for recruitment; training and a roadmap to track court cases as possible ways of strengthening the judicial system.

He said that as a judge he is supposed to be a ‘mirror’ that reflects the people.

“I have resigned because I am a judge and if I am a judge, I have always to be honest with myself and to be honest with my job,” he said.

Justice Kuc expressed disappointment over criteria under which 78 legal assistants were selected without being awarded marks in the interviews.

He questioned the selection of the legal assistants from nearly 600 lawyers who attended the interview saying that the interview was just a cover up.

According to him, there has been nepotism in the system and that driven by honesty and transparency as one of their principles in the legal field, he decided to resign.

Nevertheless, he says judges are few in the country, a number of about 80. He added that the public is crying that the judiciary is not working.

Justice Kuc said that the judiciary has a big budget which he says some of it should have been used to employ more judges.

Juba prison alone is said to have more than 1000 remand cases according to the Justice. He said that for those cases to be finished, it needs a program of six to eight months.

South Sudan has been accused of prolonged detention without trial something which the judge says is not an issue of government because money is being given to the judiciary.

“Am supposed to be there to help the people so if I become vulnerable because of politics of certain person who is sitting on me, then I must step aside,” he said.

Recently, the Chief Justice, Chan Rece Madut was accused of appointing his daughter as a legal assistant.