The Court of Appeal has finally come into being. It has long been awaited. The discourse about the Court has now turned into a reality. It is one of the most welcoming legislative achievements in recent years.

The Organic law nº002/2018.ol of 04/04/2018 establishing the Court of Appeal, in its Article 2, gives it jurisdictional powers to appeals arising over the decisions of the High Court, the Commercial High Court and the Military High Court.

Prior to this law, appeal cases arising from the High Court, the Commercial High Court and the Military High Court would be referred to the Supreme Court.

The Court of Appeal is one of the ordinary courts as opposed to the specialised courts.  Specialised courts are responsible for examining at first instance and appeals levels claims lodged in certain specific areas.

Specifically, there’re two specialised courts; Commercial Court (hears commercial or business-related cases which can be appealed in the Commercial High Court) and Military Tribunal (hears cases involving military personnel which can be appealed in the Military High Court).

The Court of Appeal will hear proceedings in criminal matters as well as proceedings in civil matters, which are appealable. The Supreme Court, as well as being the final court of appeal, is the highest court in the hierarchy of judiciary in Rwanda.

Equally, it plays an important role in the progressive development of Rwandan law.

On the face of it, the Court of Appeal will provide a breathing space to the Supreme Court, which has been handling appealable cases arising from the High Court, the Commercial High Court and the Military High Court.

The new Court of Appeal in Rwanda’s judiciary is similar to the court systems in Uganda and Kenya. In Tanzania, the Court of Appeal is the court of final appeal at the apex of the judiciary. The Court of Appeal is the Supreme Court in the judiciary.

Another important development is the draft law on corruption adopted by legislative body, but yet to be signed into law, which qualifies corruption as a felony and an imprescriptible crime.

This means that no amount of time can erase a corruption case and that prosecution must take place until the accused party’s guilt or innocence is determined. There is no longer any time limitation for a corruption charge to be pursued. 

The existing Penal Code, under review in Article 2, prescribes three offences according to their gravity: felony (an offence punishable under the law by a main penalty of an imprisonment of more than five (5) years), misdemeanour (an offence punishable under the law by a main penalty of an imprisonment of six (6) months to five (5) years), and petty offences (an offense punishable under the law by a main penalty of an imprisonment of less than six (6) months or punishable by a fine only).

Accordingly, a misdemeanour constitutes a serious offence while a felony constitutes a more serious offence. Once a person is convicted of corruption will be given the tougher penalty than ever before. But why tougher penalty?

Globally, corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. Corruption is like a pernicious computer virus. For effective keeping of corruption at bay, the stringent measures provided by draft law need to be implemented through concerted efforts by the government, private sector and civil society organizations.

Corruption undermines institutions, slows economic development and contributes to governmental instability. Corruption weakens the very fabrics of society. Corruption perverts the rule of law and consequently the system’s core values are in a state of quagmire.

The new law will serve as an important deterrent to corruption. Even if people may avoid corruption practices not due to ethics or moral values, but rather by fear of the force of law, the objective would be achieved. Accordingly, corruption will be punished from five years and above.

The whole endeavour illustrates zero tolerance to corruption. Corruption must be seen as undesirable, harmful, destructive and immoral.

In order to promote integrity, transparency and accountability in various societal settings, all systems of the government, private sector and civil society must work together to identify and eliminate loopholes that let corruption thrive. 

Another significant development that would equally contribute to fight against corruption is effective enforcement of law nº44bis/2017 of 06/09/2017 relating to the protection of whistle blowers.Its main purpose is to protect whistle blowers who report violations of law, including corruption, with a view of safeguarding public interest and individual rights.

The whistle blowing law requires everyone, no matter the status or the workplace, to provide information in relation to offences, illegal acts or behaviours. Of course, it doesn’t encourage gossiping or telling untrue information due to animus or any other subjective reason.

For the sake of fairness, a whistle blower is required to be diligent, analytical and verify the information and disclose it with proof. Applying stringent penalties to corruption must go hand-in-hand with the culture of reporting it. So, awareness-raising is paramount to embolden collaboration with the law enforcement agencies.

The writer is a law expert.

The views expressed in this article are of the author.