Minister unveils post-graduate course in legal studies

SOUTHERN PROVINCE NYANZA — The Minister of Justice who also serves as the Attorney General, Tharcisse Karugarama on Monday oversaw the launching of a post graduate programme in legal practice at the Institute of Legal Practice and Development (ILPD) in Nyanza town. At the launch it was also revealed that the programme, a one-year Masters degree in Legal Practice will be the first of its kind in the country. Karugarama described the launch of the programme as a landmark in the country’s Justice sector. He said, “This is the first programme of its kind in the country. In the past fresh law graduates would enter the world of work without hands on experience in legal work. This is a step in putting that right.” The minister revealed that during the Justice Sector reform that started in 2003, it was revealed that the country had only 67 qualified legal practitioners in the country. “We had a situation where people who had failed in other employments join the Justice Sector. Since the initiation of the reforms, we have put in place qualified people at all levels to create sustainable development in the sector,” he added. According to the Rector of the School, Vastina Rukimirana, the one-year Masters programme has got 36 pioneer students drawn from different government institutions in the country. The programme will later be open to other people.Minister Karugarama explained that Comparative Law-a merge of Common and Civil Law is vital for Rwanda given its Central location in East and Central Africa where countries either practice Civil or Common Law. Students will cover topics like legal drafting, interviewing, pleading, negotiating and judging among others. The Institute was launched in May this year by Prime Minister Bernard Makuza. It has a vision to become a centre of all legal systems and an international centre of excellence for legal development and practice. Ends