The Judiciary of Rwanda started the delivery of court rulings in criminal cases through the Skype application in a bid to keep up with the ongoing novel coronavirus lockdown. The initial phase, the Judiciary said, started on Monday, April 20 with the Intermediate Court of Nyarugenge pronouncing up to 17 cases of inmates incarcerated in Nyarugenge Prison (known as Mageragere). Speaking to The New Times on Tuesday, Harrison Mutabazi, the Spokesperson for the Judiciary said that apart from helping deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Skype system and the videoconferencing that was adopted earlier, have proven to save both time and cost. “In this COVID-19 period, it would not be sensible to transport people from prison to court for trial and back and forth. That can only escalate the risks associated with this pandemic,” he said. “It has also an aspect to support the expedition of judicial work because the time consumed to take suspects from jail to court can be saved since they are tried from where they are incarcerated,” he said, adding that transportation cost can also be saved. Mutabazi said that the move does not concern courts in Kigali only, rather all courts across the country, indicating that Ngoma Intermediate Court in Eastern Province also made pronouncement of judgments on Monday, April 20, 2020. He added that on Wednesday, the Rusizi Intermediate Court in Western Province will pronounce 15 cases by use of Skype. Speaking about accessibility, Mutabazi said that videoconferencing is not readily accessible in all parts of the country because its enabling facilities are not available everywhere, while Skype is easy to install in computers allowing participation of the parties involved. “We started the use of videoconferencing for court proceedings including trying cases and pronouncing judgments. So, we wanted to use both the means so that to expedite justice delivery,” he said, pointing out that so far, Gasabo Primary Court and Kicukiro Primary Court have tried cases using videoconferencing. Ensuring quality of judgment Mutabazi said that apart from not physically being in the same room during the proceedings, the trials are being carried out effectively. He said that the defendant or respondent and their lawyer, as well as the accuser or plaintiff and their lawyer, prosecutors, the judge and the court registrar are present and the court proceedings are held with no interruptions. Regarding evidence preservation and documentation, he said that the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS) which is used currently for judicial processes has ensured the evidence is accessible by accuser, the accused, prosecution, and judges. “Due process in line with hearings is observed,” he said. How it works For videoconferencing, Mutabazi said that, currently, the judiciary has a site for judges which is at the Supreme Court premises in Kimihurura, Kigali. There is also a site for detained suspects at the Remera-based Kigali Metropolitan Police. Those sites are equipped with digital cameras which are turned on when it is time to hold a trial. The same applies to Skype, but, it does not require installing digital cameras, rather installation Skype application in computers to be used by the judges and the concerned parties who are at different sites. As of April 20, 2020, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Rwanda were 147. At global level, it has been confirmed that COVID-19 had infected more than 2.5 million people, and killed over 170,000 others after four months since the first confirmed case, as per a count by Johns Hopkins University.
