Mauritian to lead Rwanda’s Commercial High Court

A Mauritian has been appointed to lead Rwanda’s newly established Commercial High Court while several of his countrymen are expected to preside over other lower commercial courts, a senior official in the judiciary has said. Anne Gahongayire, the Supreme Court Secretary General, said Thursday that Justice Marie-Joseph Gerald, will head the Commercial High Court, while his colleague, Angelee Ramdin, was named president of Nyarugenge Commercial Court,. They are already in the country laying the groundwork for the court. According to Gahongayire , the Nyarugenge Commercial Court has the largest number of cases. The Commercial High Court president will be at the same level as the president of the High Court. Gahongayire said that the Mauritian judges are supposed to be seven total and will be assisted by the Rwandan counterparts. We are still looking for five more and they will soon be in the country, she added. The development follows the promulgation of the law establishing the jurisdiction, and functioning of commercial courts which was passed last month. The Commercial High Court will be the appellate court from three commercial courts that are geographically spread out across the country. However, the law provides that some cases will be tried at first instance at the high court, and appeals will be handled by the Supreme Court. The three courts will be based in Nyarugenge in the City of Kigali, Musanze in the Northern Province and Huye in the Southern Province. The reason behind selecting the three regions of operation for the courts was based on the fact that they are busier compared to other courts and will serve designated areas surrounding them. Gahongayire said that the courts are already operational but we are currently finalizing logistical activities like moving the cases from different courts where they have been. Meanwhile, Benoit Gatete, the vice-president of the Commercial High Court, was sworn in yesterday at the Supreme Court premises in Kimihurura. Thousands of commercial litigations have been in different courts in the country. The Supreme Court official said that they would embark on a sensitization campaign especially to the business community to tell them where they should address their disputes. Ends

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Mauritian to lead Rwanda’s Commercial High Court