In a major crackdown on judiciary in Rwanda, 47 judges have been dismissed between 2005 and 2019 in Rwanda, the country’s President of the Supreme Court revealed in a document obtained by APA Tuesday in Kigali.
The President of Supreme court Faustin Nteziryayo said that the judiciary took a serious note of corruption charges against the judges and investigated into their “role” before deciding on these serious punishments.
Rwanda has a four-layered judicial system which consists of magistrate’s courts, high courts, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court which is the highest court in the country.
The decision of the Supreme Court are not be subject to appeal save in terms of petitions for the exercise of the prerogative of mercy or revision of a judicial decision.
The appeals court has been inserted in between the high court and Supreme Court following a the latest reform implemented in 2018 to transform the whole system for the better.
Rwanda’s existing courts structure starts with primary court, intermediate court, high court and Supreme Court as the highest level of justice.
However, Corruption in Rwanda’s judiciary still remains an open secret as corruption allegations are leveled against the judges and several judges dismissed or penalised every year over corruption charges.
CU/abj/APA