KAMPALA–The judiciary in Rwanda is planning to develop a sentencing manual that will guide judges how to hand down sentences, Chief Justice Sam Rugege has said.He said this during a meeting that brought together over 300 judges and magistrates from over 64 countries from the Commonwealth bloc and other countries.“We are still doing more research to help us to develop these guidelines and these will definitely help us determine what an appropriate sentence is in certain circumstances,” Rugege told The New Times in Kampala.“A judge may be soft on one person and hard on the other and this is not fair to the litigants.”To achieve this, Rugege added, a Commonwealth seminar will be held in Kigali next year where external facilitators will give guidance on the development of the sentencing manual.In many countries, it was observed, judges have abused their legal discretion to sentence those accused and have at times given sentences not commensurate to offences committed.“It could be different judges in different courts, it could be different judges in the same court, and it could be the same judge who is inconsistent in the way he gives his sentences,” Rugege said.Eliasa Omar Kisawuzi, a Registrar at the Court of Appeal in Uganda, said his country was also coming up with similar guidelines and warned that countries without such a manual risked being misunderstood by the citizens they serve.“We want to have some kind of level ground where it should be clear on which sentences apply to particular offences committed,” said Kisawuzi.At the meeting, judges agreed that it was important they play a more active role in the courtroom by mediating between litigants in an effort to save the time it may take for one case to be heard.
