Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law Building
The scholarship on legitimacy of dispute settlement institutions has largely ignored community mediation institutions operating in the global south. This article aims to remedy that gap, through a case study of community mediation groups in South Sudan, a state emerging from large-scale conflict whe...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Utrecht University School of Law
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Utrecht Law Review |
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| Online Access: | https://account.utrechtlawreview.org/index.php/up-j-ulr/article/view/861 |
| _version_ | 1827926261675065344 |
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| author | Janine Marisca Ubink Bernardo Ribeiro de Almeida |
| author_facet | Janine Marisca Ubink Bernardo Ribeiro de Almeida |
| author_sort | Janine Marisca Ubink |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The scholarship on legitimacy of dispute settlement institutions has largely ignored community mediation institutions operating in the global south. This article aims to remedy that gap, through a case study of community mediation groups in South Sudan, a state emerging from large-scale conflict where formal courts are only marginally able to fulfill their assigned roles and the rule of law needs to be built almost from the ground-up. The article studies both the empirical legitimacy of the community mediation groups and how they relate to the rule of law building project in the country. Is the empirical legitimacy of formal and informal dispute settlement institutions as a zero-sum relationship, where increasing popularity and use of informal dispute settlement institutions detract from the popularity and empirical legitimacy of formal institutions, inhibiting the maturation of the legal system and a rule of law? Or could informal dispute settlement institutions – with proper linkages to the formal system – strengthen formal institutions, both judicial and administrative? These are highly relevant questions for post-conflict states where building a well-functioning legal system is seen as a precondition for sustainable peace and development. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:36:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d3782da03654717b291733e883f9607 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1871-515X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:36:38Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Utrecht University School of Law |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Utrecht Law Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d3782da03654717b291733e883f96072023-06-14T07:30:22ZengUtrecht University School of LawUtrecht Law Review1871-515X2023-05-0119244–5744–5710.36633/ulr.861412Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law BuildingJanine Marisca Ubink0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2248-6027Bernardo Ribeiro de Almeida1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0792-5108Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society, Leiden UniversityVan Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society/Leiden University College, Leiden UniversityThe scholarship on legitimacy of dispute settlement institutions has largely ignored community mediation institutions operating in the global south. This article aims to remedy that gap, through a case study of community mediation groups in South Sudan, a state emerging from large-scale conflict where formal courts are only marginally able to fulfill their assigned roles and the rule of law needs to be built almost from the ground-up. The article studies both the empirical legitimacy of the community mediation groups and how they relate to the rule of law building project in the country. Is the empirical legitimacy of formal and informal dispute settlement institutions as a zero-sum relationship, where increasing popularity and use of informal dispute settlement institutions detract from the popularity and empirical legitimacy of formal institutions, inhibiting the maturation of the legal system and a rule of law? Or could informal dispute settlement institutions – with proper linkages to the formal system – strengthen formal institutions, both judicial and administrative? These are highly relevant questions for post-conflict states where building a well-functioning legal system is seen as a precondition for sustainable peace and development.https://account.utrechtlawreview.org/index.php/up-j-ulr/article/view/861dispute settlement institutionslegitimacycommunity mediatorssouth sudanrule of law buildingpost-conflict |
| spellingShingle | Janine Marisca Ubink Bernardo Ribeiro de Almeida Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law Building Utrecht Law Review dispute settlement institutions legitimacy community mediators south sudan rule of law building post-conflict |
| title | Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law Building |
| title_full | Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law Building |
| title_fullStr | Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law Building |
| title_full_unstemmed | Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law Building |
| title_short | Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law Building |
| title_sort | community mediators in south sudan empirical legitimacy and post conflict rule of law building |
| topic | dispute settlement institutions legitimacy community mediators south sudan rule of law building post-conflict |
| url | https://account.utrechtlawreview.org/index.php/up-j-ulr/article/view/861 |
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