Volume 9, Spring 2012, Issue 3
POST-REFERENDUM SUDAN: THE NATION- BUILDING PROJECT AND ITS CHALLENGES
Christopher Zambakari, B.S./MBA
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (“CPA”), signed on January 9, 2005, brought an end to the brutal civil war (1955-1972; 1983-2005) that engulfed Sudan since its independence in 1956. The CPA was the immediate culmination of the negotiations that ended the hostility between the National Congress Party (“NCP”) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (“SPLM/A”). It ultimately created a new political dispensation and landscape in South Sudan. Over 2 million people have died and 4 million have been uprooted due to the civil war. In fulfilling the mandate of the CPA, a referendum on self-determination was conducted in January 2011, and 98.83 percent of South Sudanese effectively voted to secede from North Sudan. The General Assembly of the United Nations admitted the Republic of South Sudan into the community of nations as the 193rd member of the United Nations on July 14, 2011. View More
Marisa McGarvey
The role of a judge and his or her resulting discretion over a given case form a powerful and central feature of the legal system in the United States. While it is true that a case is “decided” by a jury, the judge who hears the matter still wields a substantial degree of control over the proceedings, including often having the final say over sentencing. Therefore, the mode in which a judge comes to exercise this type of influence is similarly important. In fact, “the question of how we choose our judges, whom we entrust to uphold and interpret our laws, speaks to foundational principles of our judicial branch . . . and our nation as a whole.” View More