A suspect facing the possibility of life imprisonment upon conviction may be granted a reduced prison sentence, possibly as short as ten years, if they present compelling mitigating circumstances that successfully persuade the judge.

This is one of the proposed changes introduced in the country’s penal law, a few years after it was promulgated. The proposed changes were tabled before parliament on Monday, June 26.

According to government, the amendment of the law Nº 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining offences and penalties in general aims at among others addressing gaps identified while implementing the legislation.

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In the explanatory note of the bill, the Government stated that the changes are also aimed at aligning with the Criminal Justice Policy which was launched last year in September.

This policy, according to government, will properly guide interventions and practices of institutions in the criminal justice chain and inform various changes in regards to how justice is rendered.

Specifically, the criminal justice policy provides for actions that will be taken including amending the law determining offences and penalties in general to align it with the new policy orientation for punishment and correction as well as rehabilitation of offenders.

The rehabilitation of offenders, it said, would be done through quality and effective programmes, services and re-education designed to integrate them back into the society as useful citizens to themselves and to the country.

Below are the four key changes that were presented to the lower chamber by Solina Nyirahabimana, the State Minister in charge of Constitutional Affairs.

1. Judges to get more flexibility to reduce sentences in consideration of mitigating circumstances

The existing law provides little latitude for the judge to reduce a sentence for convicts even where they have presented satisfactory mitigation circumstances.

This, according to the explanatory note, limits judges in exercising their discretionary powers in determining fair penalties. This is because the law, in its current form, prevents in some cases, consideration of mitigating factors which would benefit the defendant.

"This also contradicts the principle that the judge normally determines a penalty according to the gravity of the offence, its consequences, motives for committing the offence, offender’s prior record, personal situation, and circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence,” the note reads in part.

In this regard, the draft law provides that if the judge approves mitigating circumstances, he or she may reduce penalties accordingly.

These include that life imprisonment may be reduced to a penalty of imprisonment of not less than 10 years; and a fixed-term imprisonment from six months and above may be reduced but it cannot be less than a half (1/2) of the minimum sentence provided by the law.

Also, the bill proposes that a penalty of imprisonment of less than six months may be suspended; while a fine may be reduced up to a quarter (1/4) of the minimum fine provided for the offence committed, and a penalty of community service may be suspended.

2. Making defilement an imprescriptible crime

Imprescriptible crimes are crimes whose offenders can be prosecuted anytime regardless of lapsed time since the commission of the offence.

Currently, defilement, which is considered a felony, has a statute of limitation fixed at 10 years. Meaning that the suspect cannot be pursued over such crime after these years have elapsed.

While justifying the amendment, the Government said that the crime of defilement has been increasing and affecting Rwandan society and that most of the time offenders of this crime flee after committing the crime, only to return when the time to initiate criminal action has elapsed.

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In other cases, sometimes the victims of this crime do not understand that it is a crime or they take long to reveal it due to threats from the offenders or even their families.

And by the time they know and reveal it, prosecution of the offenders will not be possible due to the fact that the prescriptive period has elapsed.

With the view to deter such crimes and remove barriers related to the prescriptive period, the draft law provides that the crime of child defilement is imprescriptible.

3. Flexibility in imposing imprisonment or fine penalties

In principle, penalties provided for petty offences are mostly imprisonment and a fine or one of them. However, in most provisions of the current law, both penalties (imprisonment and fine) are mandatory.

This, the Government said, limits the flexibility for a judge to impose a penalty that he or she considers appropriate. In this regard, it indicated, some articles were revised to provide that a judge can impose the penalty of imprisonment and fine or one of them.

4. Criminalising other prohibited acts not currently punishable by law

The draft law provides for other prohibited acts with negative consequences which are not provided by law as offences yet there has been a rise in such cases.

It cited interfering with public auction; non-execution of a court decision willingly; and the production, sale, distribution or importation of substandard or harmful products to a human being.

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The current law only provides for the crime of production, sale or prescription of prohibited substances in medicine.

The new bill is comprehensively covering products in question. It provides that a person who produces, sells, distributes or imports foods, beverages, medications or other products, which may be harmful to a human being, commits an offence.

Upon conviction, he or she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than three years but not more than five years, and a fine of not less than Rwf1 million, but not more than Rwf3 million or only one of these penalties.

This implies a tougher penalty in terms of imprisonment compared to the current term of not less than one year and not more than two years, but less in terms of fine compared to the current not less than three Rwf3 million and not more than Rwf5 million; or only one of these penalties.