Justice sector outlines next year’s priorities

The High Court chamber for international and trans-border crimes will next year be relocated to Nyanza District with universal jurisdiction of trying cases of genocide, crimes against humanity committed in Rwanda in 1994, and other trans-border crimes like human trafficking. Isabelle Karihangabo, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, announced this while highlighting their priorities for the next judicial year 2017-2018, this week. “All the remaining prominent Genocide fugitives will be tried in that court. This court was expected to be completed early 2017 but due to logistics and delays in tendering processes it is expected to be established mid 2017,” she said. Other priorities highlighted include recovering money from people who lost cases to the government but are reluctant to pay up. The Ministry of Justice in September said government had about Rfw1.6 billion in debts in the last one and a half years, and only approximately Rwf400 million had so far been collected. It said that those who owe government had been given enough time to pay up and new measures had been put in place to recover the money. About 200 people were pursuing these debtors but later the ministry added another 320 bailiffs. “Court bailiffs will be able to go and forcefully execute those rulings and defaulters will be obliged to pay those bailiffs on their behalf,” Karihangabo added. Meanwhile, Xaveline Mukaneza, a land policy and strategy specialist at the ministry, said they will also seek to address the root cause of land conflicts and related cases. Main achievements Anastase Nabahire, the Justice Sector co-coordinator at the ministry, cited implementation of the integrated case management system among their achievements in the past year. He said the development has enhanced service delivery in handling case backlog in courts. In 2015-2016, the judiciary handled 5,508 cases out of a backlog of 17,231 cases while the Abunzi committees were strengthened through providing regular trainings, according to Nabahire. Challenges Karihangabo put the Abunzi performance at 80.26 per cent in the past year. She, however, pointed to some unfinished business, including failure to construct commercial courts as had been planned, and low recovery rate of money owed to government. Pieter Dorst, the head of development and cooperation at the embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, hailed the steps that were taken by the justice sector in reconciling Rwandans after the Genocide. He also appreciated the role of Abunzi committees in the reconciliation process. “The increased number of extradition cases of Genocide (suspects) is a sign that the sector has tremendously built trust on the international arena. The sector has improved in the last 22 years and is still achieving more success,” he said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Justice sector outlines next year’s priorities