Members of Parliament will this week on Thursday begin voting on articles on the new penal code rounding up a marathon process that begun at the beginning of October this year. 

The government, through the Rwanda Law Reform Commission, embarked on reviewing the Penal Code law in 2015 as part of efforts to keep the country’s penal system up-to-date.

A draft of proposed amendments to the code was endorsed by cabinet in October.

Tabling the bill before parliament in October, the State Minister for Constitutional and Legal affairs, Evode Uwizeyimana, told MPs that the suggested changes are aimed at making the Penal Code easier to use and more effective in deterring crime, punishing convicts, and rehabilitating offenders.

MP John Ruku-Rwabyoma told The New Times in a telephone interview yesterday that should his colleagues agree on all the articles, Rwandans will have many changes to celebrate.

He pointed out the law on abortion which he said if agreed upon by his colleagues, will be a step in the right direction.

"The changes in the abortion law are significant.  If the doctor feels it’s in the woman’s best interests to terminate a pregnancy, then the suggestion that it should in the future be one doctor instead of court is great.

"I am also happy to hear that there is no need for a judge to be involved. The current process was unnecessarily long and complicated and in the end, it would be too late to terminate the pregnancy. The changes are a step in the right direction,” he said.

The Executive Director of Health Development Initiative (HDI); Dr. Aflodis Kagaba commended parliament for giving Rwandans an opportunity to contribute ideas to the penal code.

"The reception we received and the platform that our ideas were given was more than what we expected. We are hoping that the penal code is voted for and that of course our ideas contributed to the new changes,” he said.

In 2014, to increase the awareness of the Penal Code, HDI conducted a legal analysis on the current legal situation regarding abortion.

In its contribution recently, the organisation outlined several recommendations for revisions to the penal code that would advance the reproductive rights of women and girls including expanding the pool of health professionals exempt from criminal liability for performing an abortion; and taking into account the mental as well physical health of the pregnant woman when analyzing the threat to the health of the mother-to-be.

In the proposed amendments to the Penal Code, some offences and penalties will be removed from the Organic Law of 2012 instituting the Penal Code and inserted in special laws.

They include the law relating to the rights and protection of the child, organic law   determining   the   modalities   of   protection,   conservation   and   promotion   of   environment in Rwanda, as well as the law relating to arms among others.

The proposed Penal Code also includes adjustments to the country’s laws on issues such as abortion, adultery, prostitution, as well as corruption and embezzlement.

The bill also seeks to introduce heavy punishments for emerging and sophisticated crimes in today’s Rwandan and global society such as human trafficking, offences against children, terrorism, and those related to cyber security.

Unlike the current Penal Code, which has 766 articles in total and remains a collection of all offences and penalties that were in different specific laws, the proposed Penal Code has 360 articles.

 editorial@newtimes.co.rw