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The Kenyan judicial sector has a lot of lessons to learn from Rwanda’s Gacaca courts, which tried hundreds of thousands of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, says Kenya’s Chief Justice Martha Koome.
Koome said this on Monday, June 10, as Kenyan and Rwandan judicial officials began four days of discussions on the role of the two countries’ top judicial bodies in upholding justice, human rights, and constitutional integrity.
Speaking to journalists in Kigali, Koome said her delegation was in Rwanda to learn about the country’s best practices in the justice sector, including digitization.
“As you know in Kenya, we are trying to embrace the Alternative Justice System to help us resolve so many of the disputes,” Koome said.
“About 20 percent of people can access the formal justice system and the rest of the matters are resolved through other informal systems. And as you know Rwanda has had a very established system, the Gacaca courts, which are informal, people-centric, and reachable to the majority of people. We are very keen to learn from that.”
She said the Kenyan judicial officials are keen on learning from Rwanda’s use of technology in the justice system, and exchange on how to leverage technology to deliver justice.
“We have realized that Rwanda is ahead of us in e-filing and virtual courts and we have also embraced e-filing and virtual courts,” she said.
For Rwanda’s Chief Justice Faustin Ntezilyayo, the engagement is an important occasion for the Rwandan judiciary to learn from the Kenyan judiciary.
“On our part, we want to learn from their common law system, which is used in most Commonwealth countries,” he said.
Due to the legacy of Rwanda’s former colonial master Belgium, the country has traditionally used a civil law system. New Times noted.
“Since 1994 we have been reforming our justice system in the direction of common law. Some of the aspects of the common law system we will discuss during this session are the use of legal precedents and plea bargaining in delivering justice, which started to be used in Rwanda,” he said.
Ntezilyayo noted the importance of the meeting for Kenyan judicial officials to learn from Rwanda’s experience.
“Gacaca courts have been one special way of dealing with the cases in the aftermath of the Genocide against the Tutsi; and it was a homegrown solution that, along with court-annexed mediation, led to the peaceful Rwanda we have today,” he said.
“So, the Gacaca courts and the court-annexed mediation are crucial elements, and it is not just Kenya, delegations from more countries have come here to learn from our experience.”
At the end of the four-day exchanges, the two Supreme Court Presidents will sign a memorandum of understanding, which will be a guiding tool for collaboration including the training of judges and magistrates and people working on the two countries’ alternative justice endeavors.
