Law students help draft new constitution for South Sudan

During the spring semester, four Cornell Law School students took on the challenge of writing a draft constitution for the Republic of South Sudan under the tutelage of Muna B. Ndulo, professor of law and director of Cornell's Institute for African Development. The Republic of South Sudan became Africa's newest independent state July 9 after citizens voted overwhelmingly to secede from the north.

Ndulo, with Professor Christina Murray of Cape Town University, is a consultant to the National Democratic Institute, which advises the new state on institution building as it emerges from Africa's longest civil war. A crucial task for South Sudan "is to adopt a new constitution that guarantees the establishment of a just and democratic state based on the separation of powers, good governance, constitutionalism, and the respect of the rule of law," says Ndulo.

To help him guide the document's creation, Ndulo enlisted students Calli Ferreira, LL.M. '11; Lilian Balasanian '11; Ejemen Ofoman, LL.M. '11; and Kamilka Malwatte '11, who performed a comparative study of several states' constitutions in search of best practices. By the end of the semester, they had completed a draft constitution.

"The students learned a great deal and participated in an ongoing project of international importance," says Ndulo. "I found their expertise and dedication to the project inspiring."

Ndulo, who joined the Cornell Law School Faculty in 1996, is honorary professor of law at the University of Cape Town, a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch (Africa) and chairperson of South African NGO Gender Links.

Owen Lubozynski is a freelance writer for the Law School.

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