by Dot Diocese
On 13 August 2018, Bor Municipal council held an inauguration ceremony for the Chairpersons, Deputy Chairpersons and Members of the two Bench Courts A and B that were recently formed.
The Mayor of Bor Town, James Gai Makhor in an interview explained the roles and responsibilities of the bench court which is mainly handling of traditional customary law cases such as divorce, marriage complications, elopement, other town issues at large and that it will serve as a wing of Judiciary in municipal council.
The Chairperson of Bench court B, Head Chief Mayom Malak Mach who was first appointed as a young man in 1967, takes pride in his appointment and considers it a reward to the people of Jonglei because of his vast experience of 50 years handling difference cases. Like him, his deputy, Chief Deng Malual Bol has been serving since 1991.
On the other hand secretary of bench court B, Mr. Manyuon commends the presence of this court in town and added that they are not allowed to judge criminal cases or any cases with an article quote in the constitution of Republic of south Sudan. He also urged the communities to refrain from committing crimes that will either result into conflicts or imprisonment.
The chairperson of court A Chief Peter Jok Manyang Jok concluded that this court was formed under Local Government Act (2009) which vested powers upon them and since its formation, cases have decreased in numbers as some are being handled by court C at the Boma and Payam levels respectively.