Sudan High Court overturns dismissal of jurists and prosecutors

The High Court Chamber in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, which is competent to consider appeals against the decisions of the Empowerment Removal Committee (ERC)*, decided to invalidate Chapter 21 concerning senior prosecutors and return them to work. On Tuesday, the department issued a decision to return 15 judicians to service.

The Jurists Group decided to submit a memorandum of demand to the military component of the Sovereignty Council on Thursday, to demand the handover of power to the civilian component, in addition to monitoring all constitutional violations and opposing decisions issued by the High Court against the decisions of the dismantling committee.

The Appeals Department of Sudan’s High Court in Khartoum issued a ruling on October 7 which nullifies decisions of the Empowerment Removal Committee regarding the dismissal of judges, prosecutors, and other judicial employees. The committee rejected the ruling because of procedural flaws.

The jurists group called for a gathering of all lawyers at the premises of the ERC on Thursday, starting at 11 am, provided that the memorandum will be drafted for a meeting at the Sudanese Lawyers House on Tuesday.

* The full name of the committee is the Committee for Dismantling the June 30 1989 Regime, Removal of Empowerment and Corruption and Recovery of Public Funds. It was established by the government of Abdallah Hamdok in November 2019 with the aim to purge Sudan of the remnants of the ousted regime of dictator Omar Al Bashir (1989-2019). Empowerment (tamkin) is the term with which the Al Bashir government supported its affiliates by granting them far-going privileges, including government functions, the setting-up of various companies, and tax exemptions.