A/HRC/14/41 resource mobilization and the necessity to reach out to and work with civil society organizations. E. Administration of justice 38. The administration of justice in Southern Sudan is still weak. This is understandable given the long years of armed conflict and the fact that the new Government has just commenced institutional-building efforts. The judiciary is only present in the State capitals, with little or no presence in the counties. Courts are ill-equipped, poorly staffed and underresourced in all of Southern Sudan. The introduction of mobile courts in States such as Lake and Northern Bahr el Ghazal has helped to increase access to justice, and needs to be replicated in other States. 39. The majority of the population of Southern Sudan rely on traditional courts, which dispense justice through customary norms and practices. However, the handling of serious criminal offences by the traditional courts often leads to human rights violations. Defendants appearing before the traditional courts do not have legal representation and there is no appeal process in place. Furthermore, the courts are presided over by people with no legal background and skills to understand the constituent elements of serious crimes. In addition, the traditional courts do not always respect women’s rights. The catalogue of human rights violations that occur in these courts include the imprisonment of women for refusing forced marriages arranged by parents. F. Legal aid 40. The vast majority of prisoners, including those on death row, do not have access to legal representation or aid. In Juba Central Prison, none of the 45 prisoners currently on death row had been informed of their right to free legal assistance. Only 5 out of 45 benefited from legal assistance during their trial. Twenty of them were able to appeal their sentences, mostly through the assistance of prison officers. In spite of these gaps in the legal system which infringe on the right of defendants to a fair trial, the courts have continued to impose the death penalty and executions have continued unabated. Five executions were carried out in Wau and another two in Juba in November 2009. Currently, more than 100 prisoners in Juba, Wau and Malakal are awaiting execution. Few of them benefited from legal assistance during their trial, and most were not able to appeal their sentences for the same reasons. The Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development has a legal aid department present in all 10 States, but its services are more theoretical than real. G. Prisons and the treatment of prisoners 41. The independent expert visited prisons in Juba, Aweil and Wau. In all cases, the facilities were overcrowded. In Juba Central Prison, more than 957 inmates were being held in a facility intended for 500 inmates. It was noted that some pretrial detainees had been in custody for between one and two years awaiting trial and were being held in the same cells as convicted prisoners. There is no mental hospital in the whole of South Sudan. Instead, the mentally disturbed are incarcerated in prisons for their own security and for the safety of the communities. As at January 2010, a total of 73 mentally disturbed people were being held in various prisons in South Sudan. 10 GE.10-13648