Dutch Justice delegation arrives

The Ministry of Justice, on Friday, received a delegation of eight officials from the Dutch justice sector who are in the country on a follow up mission on the bilateral legal cooperation between the two countries. According to the Minister of Justice, Tharcisse Karugarama, the tour follows last year‘s visit by his Dutch counterpart and a trip he made to the Netherlands. He said the two countries have a healthy mutual cooperation in terms of legal systems. “The delegation is in the country to follow up issues of legal cooperation between Rwanda and The Netherland, especially on exchange programmes, extradition agreement, witness protection and tracking down genocide suspects who live there,” Karugarama said. The week-long tour will see the delegates visit and discuss practical modalities through which the cooperation agreement will be implemented. Karugarama explained that the agreement would see Rwandan legal officials going to Netherlands and vice versa as a way of enhancing legal cooperation and learn from one another through exchange programme. He added that cooperation will help in tracking down genocide suspects who live in the European country, commending the Dutch for their unwavering partnership in enhancing the witness protection department of the Rwandan judiciary. “In principle, as a matter of policy, the two parties have agreed to create a cooperation framework where technical teams will sit and agree on concrete actions to make the legal process possible,” he added. During their tour, the delegation will meet officials from the Supreme Court, High Court, and the National Public Prosecution Authority. Ends