All the existing laws in public institutions will be scrutinized so as to propose new methods and new concepts of laws that suit the changing trends in the Rwandan society.This was said by John Gara, the head of the newly established National Law Reform Commission, during a meeting with legal officers from public institutions.The commission operates under the Ministry of Justice.Gara told The New Times that his commission is currently evaluating several legislations and is yet to identify those that need to be polished.“We are going to fast track laws that need reforms; by now we haven’t yet determined them, it’s a long process of identifying these laws, they will be complete by the end of this year,” he said.According to legal practitioners, there are many laws that will need to be reformed, especially during the merger of several public institutions hence causing confusion on which guidelines to follow.They claim that because of the many laws, several important elements are at times left out during the formulation of the laws establishing the merger, thereby requiring polishing for effectiveness.It was also noted that several existing laws were not thoughtfully developed and well researched.“Drafting laws is often rushed. An impression of urgency is stated by policymakers, lawmakers and stakeholders leaving the drafter with little time to do important research before drafting the law,” said Aimable Havugiyaremye noted, the Vice Chairman of the commission. He added: “If policy documents were well-developed and well-researched, they would serve as a good starting point for a drafter’s research. However, these documents are usually either not well-researched themselves, or not properly consulted by drafters in the drafting process.”It was also disclosed that some of the existing laws were drafted by foreign consultants who were not familiar with the Rwandan legal context or style, or issues particular to Rwanda in the area in which they are drafting.“However, many local consultants, on the other hand, produce poor quality drafts and simply copy and paste drafts from another jurisdictions in their chosen language, French or English, without tailoring it to the Rwandan situation or even taking time to do basic editing,” Havugiyaremye said.The legal officers called for the commission to provide some training on how to draft laws properly.The National Law Reform Commission started its operations in June this year aimed to analyze the laws of the country with the view of providing recommendations to competent authorities for improvement, modernization and reform legislations, as and when need arises.
