NYAGATARE - 99 percent of Juvenile cases in Nyagatare District that have been awaiting court hearings were cleared during the just concluded Legal Aid week country-wide, an official has said.

Of the 22 pending Juvenile cases in Nyagatare Juvenile Prison, 20 cases were handled during the Legal Aid Week.
Speaking to The New Times after the closure of Legal Aid Week this week, Geoffrey Zawadi, the National Coordinator for ‘Access to Justice Bureaus’ said that since last year, legal week targeted Juvenile cases in all prisons.

"The Supreme Court that is at the helm of this annual Legal Aid week suggested that all pending Juvenile cases should be the target. We carried out the activities smoothly and almost 99 percent of these cases were handled,” he said.

"This is tremendous progress made during this period. You cannot handle all cases at a go because courts receive more children on a daily basis and they cannot handle them immediately. But many cases that were awaiting court arraignments have been cleared,” he said.

According to Zawadi, through access to Justice Bureau chiefs country-wide, children were facilitated to get lawyers and other advisors.

"The work of the access to Justice Bureau chiefs in the country is to advise residents on legal issues and give them guidelines in case they intend to forward their cases to courts,” Zawadi added.

"Normally before this Legal Aid Week started, a number of cases could be pending for so long. But we have seen a paramount move by the courts as a result of the initiative,” Calixte Mporanyi, one of the parents who had accompanied his son before court told The New Times.

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