Supreme Court of Sudan

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The Supreme Court, located in Khartoum, is the highest judicial authority in Sudan, apart from the Constitutional Court, which under Article 30 of the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration, is to be "an independent court, separate from the judicial authority." [1] [2] Nemat Abdullah Khair was appointed as Chief Justice of Sudan, thus becoming the President of the Supreme Court, on 10 October 2019. [3]

History

As of 2011, the court consists of 70 judges operating through panels each composed of three judges, with a senior president. [4] The members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of Sudan who is advised on the matter by the supreme council of the judiciary, members of the courts of appeal and other people with the required qualifications. [4] Decisions made in the court are reached by the majority and are only subject to revision "when the chief justice deems that an infringement of sharia laws had taken place." If this is the case "he convenes a five Supreme Court judges panel the majority of whom not must have participated in reaching the disputed decision in order to resolve the matter. " [4]

In October 2010, seven Indonesian judges joined a three-week training course in Sudan to learn about economic sharia (syariah) (Islamic laws), given that Sudan is reportedly known as a pioneer in the syariah field. [5] The Indonesian Supreme Court and the Sudanese Supreme Court will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in September 2011.

With the new independence of South Sudan, supreme authority in South Sudan has since passed to the South Sudan Supreme Court in Juba, a court which had been planned since at least 2005. [6] [7]

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The legal system of Sudan has evolved over time. The legacy of British colonial rule has had a significant impact even after independence. Most of the lawyers and judges were British trained and initially tended to rely on judicial precedent. Soon after independence, however, pressure began to build to change the legal system. By the time Jaafar Nimeiry seized power in 1969, a commission had been working on recommendations for a new system, but he dissolved it and formed another commission dominated by 12 Egyptian jurists. Based on recommendations received from them, Sudan adopted a new civil code that looked much like the Egyptian civil code of 1949. The new system was controversial because it disregarded existing laws and customs and introduced many new legal terms and concepts from Egyptian law without source material to interpret the codes. In 1973 the government repealed these codes and returned the legal system to its pre-1970 common-law status. In 1977 Nimeiry agreed to consider a Muslim Brotherhood demand that the system be based on Islam. He appointed al-Turabi as chairman of a committee to draft new Islamic laws. Nimeiry accepted few of the proposals from this committee. He then established a small, new group in 1983 that developed a “cut-and-paste” version of sharia laws based on practice in other countries. In September 1983, Nimeiry issued several decrees, known as the September Laws, which made sharia the law of the land.

References

  1. FFC; TMC; IDEA; Reeves, Eric (2019-08-10). "Sudan: Draft Constitutional Charter for the 2019 Transitional Period". sudanreeves.org. Archived from the original on 2019-08-10. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
  2. FFC; TMC (2019-08-04). "(الدستوري Declaration (العربية))" [(Constitutional Declaration)](PDF). raisethevoices.org (in Arabic). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-08-05. Retrieved 2019-08-05.
  3. "Sudan appoints its first woman Chief Justice". Radio Dabanga . 2019-10-10. Archived from the original on 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Supreme Court". Sudan Judiciary. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  5. "RI Supreme Court delegation in Sudan to forge cooperation". Antara News. June 2, 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  6. "Southern Sudan Supreme Court". Government of the Republic of South Sudan. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  7. Fadlalla, Dr Mohamed Hassan; Fadlalla, Mohamed (July 2005). The Problem of Dar Fur. iUniverse. p. 141. ISBN   978-0-595-36502-9 . Retrieved 25 August 2011.