NYARUGENGE - The recently established Commercial Courts Thursday convened their first proceedings since their establishment in March.

According to the Vice President of the Commercial High Court, Benoit Gatete the initial hearings were held at the Nyarugenge Commercial Court with three judges each presiding over five cases. Most of the cases heard involved Union des Banques Populaire du Rwanda (UBPR).

There are three commercial courts countrywide the other two being in Huye, Southern Province and in Musanze, Northern Province.

"All commercial courts were scheduled to officially begin their duties today but Musanze and Huye Commercial Courts will begin on Monday, May 19, because of some issues that had not been resolved," Gatete said during an interview at his office in Remera.

He said that the Commercial High Court will also hold its preliminary hearing of more than ten cases on May 19.

The Commercial High Court is the highest jurisdiction of the Commercial Courts and has a mandate equivalent to that of the High Court.

Gatete revealed there is a backlog of 3,300 commercial litigations that have been transferred from civil courts.

Nyarugenge Commercial Court which pioneered the hearing comes top with 1,994 cases, followed by the Commercial High Court with 623; Huye has 444 cases and Musanze 239.

Each of the three courts; Nyarugenge, Musanze and Huye, has a territorial jurisdiction that covers about 10 disticts.

Gatete added that in principal, all commercial disputes end at the Commercial High Court "An appeal can only be lodged in the Supreme Court if the amount in question is over Frw20 million," he underscored.

The Commercial High Court will only handle on substantial level cases that have a value of Frw20 million and above.

In an effort to boost these courts, the government has hired foreign judges to run these courts and recently. Justices Marie-Joseph Gerald and Angelee Ramdin from Mauritius were sworn in before the Superior Council of the Judiciary.

Justice Gerald is now the President of the Commercial High Court while Ramdin heads the Nyarugenge Commercial Court.

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