Rwanda’s pilot of plea bargaining in criminal cases this year has greatly improved litigation efficiency and enabled more reasonable allocation of judicial resources, a judicial source revealed Tuesday.
The Rwandan court spokesperson, Harrison Mutabazi said that the initiative is in a pilot phase for the next five years, from select court jurisdictions and on two crimes before it can be considered for expansion.
It began with a pilot phase in five intermediate courts: Gasabo (Kigali city), Nyarugenge (Kigali city), Gicumbi (North), Muhanga (South), and Musanze (North) on the crimes of assault and battery, as well as theft.
The judicial official stated that nearly 400 trials have already been resolved through plea bargaining, estimating that approximately 800 cases could be resolved through plea bargaining by the end of this year.
According to him, the initiative not only reduces backlogs in courts and overcrowding in prisons but also helps investigators easily get key information from suspects, which can be used in fighting organized crime.
Under the program, suspects and defendants who are willing to confess, agree with prosecutors’ crime and sentencing proposals, and sign affidavits, will be given mitigated punishments.
Defendants who may face jail terms of three years or below fall under the pilot.
Latest report by Transparency International Rwanda (TIR) indicates that overcrowding continues to rise in Rwanda’s prisons where it currently stands at 174%.
The May 2022 report shows that over 84,000 people are detained in Rwanda’s prisons. Of these, 12,000 are remanded excluding suspects detained at Police stations.
In the year 2021/2022, the Prosecution received 83,349 dossiers involving 106,554 suspects.
CU/abj/APA