Customary Courts and Justice Delivery in Western Equatoria State, South Sudan

ABSTRACT The study titled “customary courts and justice delivery” conducted in Western Equatoria state, South Sudan aimed to investigate the importance of customary courts on justice delivery and assess the current structures, capacity of chiefs and lack of ascertainment of oral customary laws and the degree of their influence on the performance of customary courts in delivery of justice among the South Sudanese society. The study examined various related studies and found that the contribution of customary courts and the current challenges were not critically identified. The research employed quantitative survey method particularly crosssectional design to cross-examine the challenges in customary courts and their influence on justice delivery. The study obtained 205 sample size determined through systemic and simple random sampling and used Likert type of questionnaire to investigate the relationships. The findings were analyzed using statistical percentages and mean. After detailed examinations, the study revealed that customary courts were important structures to delivery of justice however; none codifying oral customary laws, lack of proper structure of courts and insufficient capacity of chiefs hampered the performance of customary courts to deliver justice. The study recommended codifying oral laws, restructure of customary courts and building the capacity of chiefs to improve the performance of courts in delivery of justice.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration A ii

Declaration B iii

Approval sheet iv

Dedication v

Acknowledgement vi

Abstract vii

One THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE 1

Introduction/Background Information i

Statement of the Problem 4

Purpose of the Study 5

Research Objectives 5

Research Questions 6

Hypothesis 6

Scope 6

Significance of the Study 7

Operational Definitions of Key Terms 8

Two LITERATURE REVIEW 10

Concepts, Ideas, Opinions from Expefts/Authors 10

Theoretical Framework 12

Related Studies 13

Three METHODOLOGY 27

Research Design 27

Research Population 28

vii’

Sample Size 28

Sampling Procedure 29

Research Instrument 30

Validity and Reliability of the Instrument 31

Data Gathering Procedures 33

Data Analysis 33

Ethical Considerations 33

Limitations of the Study 34

Four PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

OF DATA 35

Five FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS 58

Findings 58

Conclusions 62

Recommendations 64

References 69

Appendices 72

Appendix I - Transmittal Letter 72

Appendix II - Clearance from Ethics Committee 73

Appendix III - Informed consent 74

Appendix IV - Research Instrument 75

Appendix V — Table to determine the sample size 79

Researcher’s Curriculum Vitae