Prosecutors upbeat over high conviction rate

The National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) is in self congratulatory mood after prosecuting more than 94 percent of all case files and securing a conviction rate of almost 91 percent during the July 2013-June 2014 judicial period. The authority said during its General Assembly on Friday that it handled 26,883 out of the 28,573 cases received during the period. Richard Muhumuza, the Prosecutor General, told The Sunday Times yesterday that the job was accomplished by just 161 prosecutors, including him. “The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed. The NPPA’s staff has the will and is determined to do what it takes to see better results. With encouragement to employees and the usual empowerment from our government, we have no doubt of success,” Muhumuza said. According to the authority, the remaining 5.92 per cent cases that were not handled are those received at the end of the reporting period in June. “The same prosecutors handled [another] 33,958 cases during the reporting period. This included cases that were scheduled in the previous reporting period but were tried in the current reporting period,” NPPA said in statement issued after the assembly. Specialised units of NPPA such as the Gender Based Violence, the Economic and Financial Crimes as well as the Genocide Ideology Crimes units are also noted to have done a commendable job. The gender unit dealt with all the 2,837 cases received and secured a conviction rate of 98 per cent. Of the 338 cases received by the economic desk, 97.9 per cent were handled resulting in a conviction rate of 78 per cent. Under Genocide ideology, 336 case files were received and handled at a rate of 96.5 per cent with 75 per cent convictions. In the international crimes department, 55 indictments and international arrest warrants for genocide and crimes against humanity were transmitted to countries where suspects reside. “Besides these crimes handled by specialised units, certain crimes were given special attention due to their unique negative impact on Rwandan society. These included, among others: human trafficking where all the 10 case files received were handled and two suspects subsequently convicted,” the statement added. There were 150 corruption cases and 144 were prosecuted with 107 convicted. At the same time, the authority received 331 embezzlement case files and 314 were handled resulting in 197 convictions. Overall, a conviction rate of 90.6 percent is reported for the same period, and the NPPA commits itself to achieve a 92 per cent conviction rate in the next reporting period of 2014-2015, it is noted.

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Prosecutors upbeat over high conviction rate