President Paul Kagame has said that dispensing justice through the use of ICT is a way to go as it can help overcome limitations such as those imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic on service delivery. The President made the remarks on Monday, September 7, during a virtual address to judicial officers delivered at the launch of the Judicial Year 2020/2021. He said that the event – which was held at the Supreme Court in Kigali – took place as Rwanda, like the rest of the world is tackling Covid-19 pandemic. “This pandemic did not halt the operations of judicial organs. They carried on their work through the use of ICT,” he said, adding that already, the country had taken a direction of leveraging ICT in delivery of different services. What Covid-19 did is to make us move fast, he said. “We are happy that the courts continued to work, and cases were tried. This indicates the value of investing efforts in technology,” he said. The head of state added that what should be done is that the new system should be upheld so that justice continues to be dispensed in an appropriate and transparent way. Several cases were tried using video-conferencing facilities, during which suspects with their lawyers in their places of detention were connected to courtrooms where the judges sat. Chief Justice Faustin Ntezilyayo said that during the Judicial Year 2019/2020, ICT was very useful in providing different services of the judicial sector. He indicated that between March 16, 2020 and June 31, 14,675 were lodged through IECMS (Integrated Electronic Case Management System) countrywide, meaning that even during the total lockdown imposed to contain Covid-19, judicial services continued being delivered. He pointed out that 2,064 urgent cases including those with suspects in detention were tried and judgments were pronounced via Skype and videoconference technology. However, Ntezilyayo said that the use of technology in ICT is constrained by budget shortfalls, saying that the requisite equipment is costly and thus has not been rolled out in all courtrooms. President Kagame said that what matters the most is to provide people with quality justice which they trust. The President said that people who committed crimes are within the reach of justice and will be brought to book. He told the gathering which included judges, lawyers and prosecutors, among others, that it is their role to ensure those who committed crimes that have a historical bearing on the country are brought to book. “Trying cases of those culprits is your responsibility,” he told the staff of the judiciary. “I hope you have the ability to try them as it should.” He observed that Rwandans generally believe that people who work in the justice sector are people with integrity. “You should therefore be the strong pillar in fighting corruption. You should never be the source of it,” he said adding that shunning corruption will ensure that Rwandans get what they deserve through justice. Ntezilyayo said that “as we kick off the Judicial Year 2020/2021, the Judiciary of Rwanda renews its commitment to uphold and promote judicial ethics of independence, impartiality, integrity and accountability as it strives to ensure quality and timely justice to all.”
