Involve the public in the Penal Code amendment

The Ministry of Justice, the custodian of justice sector, is putting up the proposed amendments to the Penal Code and sectoral laws to accommodate them to the new trends. The fact that it is a matter of fundamental importance, public must be proactively engaged to share their views. I doubt if anyone who understands the contemporary trends would be against the ongoing amendments of the Penal Code. If you’re in a society that moves like a flowing stream rather than a stagnant pond, you would definitely welcome these changes. In general, the purpose of the ongoing review exercise is to ensure that emerging situations that are unregulated can be accommodated in current amendment. As the society evolves, it becomes crucially important to review and subsequently amend unnecessary provisions and incorporate the new ones that would match with the changing society. To date, the rate of criminality is indescribably higher than ever before. As society evolves, so too the exponential increase of wrong doers, hence making life virtually nasty, brutish and perhaps short. Besides, the growing information communication technology in the world history requires constant reshaping of laws to be able to address a myriad of prevalent societal challenges. Hence, making it a necessity for public participation to amend the laws to achieve greater predictability, accountability and transparency. Public consultation to this review brings the Penal Code and other Sectoral laws up to date, and makes it more effective in maintaining a safe and secure environment in today’s context. I want to believe that the review is taking into account the impact of technology, such as the Internet and mobile phones, which have become an integral part of the lifestyle in Rwanda, and are increasingly employed by criminals to perpetrate their criminal activities. As such, public participation isn’t optional but indispensable. According to the State Minister for Constitutional and Legal affairs, Evode Uwizeyimana, “the proposed Penal Code will accommodate offences and penalties for general crimes while special crimes and offences will be moved to special laws on the specific sectors”. In my view, the proposed changes will cover four main areas: expand and modify the scope of existing offences and introduce new offences; update and clarify definitions, explanations and expressions; review penalties of existing offences as well as propose penalties for new offences; and introduce offences and penalties in sectoral laws, as it originally was. In 2012, existing Penal Code conflated all offences and the penalties, including those that were in sectoral laws. Though all offences had been enveloped in the Penal Code, it hasn’t been user-friendly, because of being a voluminous document. Ideally, conflating together all offences wasn’t inappropriate per se, but the reality reveals that it hasn’t been easy to do a quick consultation of this Code. Therefore, re-introducing specific offences and penalties in sectoral laws is much more convenient, especially in terms of easy consultation of the issues therein. Stringent penalties in the Code being reviewed should ensure effective deterrence of criminal activities. Law enforcers must be ready to stringently enforce these penalties. In reviewing the Penal Code and other sectoral laws, the government intends to update its provisions so that they remain relevant and effective in view of societal and global changes. Turning to sectoral laws, it is equally important to review the compatibility of sectoral legislations that could affect different aspects of people’s rights. It is also quite important to ensure that these laws contribute to a favourable legal environment which enables the society to thrive. Like other laws, sectoral laws must be checked to make sure that they have no adverse effects on the exercise of other people’s rights. Policy makers and law enforcement must ensure that the proposed amendments achieve the intended goals. But, this can only be achieved if the public is given a window of opportunity to express their views; bearing in mind that these laws fundamentally affect their lives. Public participation is a political principle or practice, and may also be recognized as a right. Furthermore, Penal Code should reflect the values of Rwandan society. Certain fundamental values remain close to our hearts, such as the need to secure children against defilement, combat gender-based violence and human trafficking, among others. So, the public should be proactively engaged to give their feedback and views through the consultative meetings and other channels of communication. Indeed, public participation ensures that interested parties understand the issues better and are able to offer more meaningful contribution. For the same reasons, the public should be able to gain access to the draft documents and play its role in concretising these laws. Providing feedback to the consulted public increases trust and strengthens cooperation. It also encourages the public to be more committed and take part in future processes. Feedback does not need to be individualized. Instead a collective response can be made, but all issues should be considered. Different tools should be used to ensure that the information about the launched process is distributed as widely as possible, such as websites, newspapers, TV, civil society portals. In fact, public participation in matters that affect their lives is reflective of a democratic society.

Opinions

Involve the public in the Penal Code amendment