From 20 to 22 July 2017, the United Nations Legal Counsel, Mr. Serpa Soares, visited Juba, the capital of the Republic of South Sudan.  Mr. Serpa Soares went to Juba at the request of the Acting Legal Counsel of the African Union Commission, Ms. Constancia Gaspar, to support the first meeting by representatives of the African Union Commission with representatives of the Transitional Government of National Unity of the Republic of South Sudan to discuss the establishment of a Hybrid Court for South Sudan.  The mission was part of the technical assistance that the Office of Legal Affairs has been providing to the African Union Commission pursuant to Security Council resolutions 2241 (2015), 2252 (2015) and 2327 (2016). 

Upon arrival, the joint AU/UN Mission was received by Mr. Moustapha Soumaré, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan (Political), who represented SRSG Shearer who was not in the mission area during the brief visit, and by Ambassador Joram Biswaro, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and Head of the AU Mission to South Sudan.  Mr. Serpa Soares received a briefing on the political situation in the country by DSRSG Soumaré and had the opportunity to have substantive discussions with key members of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), in particular Mr. Eugene Nindorera, Director of the Human Rights Division and Mr. James Arguin, Chief of the Rule of Law Section. Throughout the mission the support provided by UNMISS was impeccable.

The joint AU/UN delegation paid a courtesy call on the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of South Sudan.  Subsequently, the joint AU/UN delegation was received by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of the Republic of South Sudan, Mr. Paulino Wanawilla Unango. 

On 21 July 2017, the AU/UN delegation was again received in the Ministry of Justice for a technical consultative meeting.  The AU/UN delegation was headed by Ms. Constancia Gaspar, Acting Legal Counsel of the African Union Commission, and the delegation of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of South Sudan was headed by Mr. James Mayan Oka, Undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, who was acting as focal point for the negotiations on the establishment of a Hybrid Court for South Sudan.  The outcome of this meeting was a roadmap and a timetable for the negotiation, signature and enactment of an “Agreement between the African Union and the Government of the Republic of South Sudan on the Establishment of a Hybrid Court for South Sudan” and a “Statute of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan”.  

Mr. Serpa Soares ended his short visit to the Republic of South Sudan with a visit of the two “protection of civilian” (POC) sites adjacent to the UNMISS Headquarters in Juba.  The larger one of the two sites currently holds 32.000 people.  During his visit of the POC sites, Mr. Serpa Soares also had an opportunity to see the UNMISS holding facilities.