DOHA: Experts from all over the world attended the Qatar Law Forum in London to discuss the challenge of achieving a global commitment to the rule of law and issues of international legal and economic significance.
The event, under the patronage of the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, was held at the London Muslim Centre.
‘Hope’ and then ‘Hopes realised’ were the messages from Rwanda’s Chief Justice, Professor Sam Rugege, as he highlighted his country’s legal transformation in less than two decades after the genocide which saw about 800,000 people killed in one year.
In recognition of the need to move beyond dialogue and bring about change on the ground, the forum coordinates on a practical Rule of Law Programme and Prof Rugege’s lecture was one of a series of events held outside Qatar.
Prof Rugege said that in 1994 only a handful of lawyers in Rwanda survived the massacres, but justice is now thriving in the East African republic, with a new constitution, Supreme Court and High Court. These institutions are critically underpinned by high levels of public support for the rule of law and confidence in the judiciary, he added.
“Justice was not in a good place – there was no respect for human rights and the rule of law. We started afresh” he said.
The transformation began at ground level, with a network of village ‘gacaca’ courts bringing together old enemies and providing community justice for accused and relatives of victims. The West was concerned, he said, at the absence of lawyers and “judges without wigs”.
The local courts processed 1.2 million cases and promoted reconciliation in the process – a new philosophy for a post-genocide society, he said. Nineteen years later Rwanda has a highly developed court system and infrastructure, with sophisticated judicial training and complaints systems, reflecting a high level of public confidence in the judiciary as Rwanda got the second top rating in Africa, eclipsing many developed countries.
The basis for such confidence must be in large part due to Rwanda’s ‘zero tolerance’ of corruption, he said. Closing the event, Robin Knowles QC of the forum said: “I have taken away two simple messages from this inspiring speech by the Chief justice: ‘Hope’ and then ‘Hopes realised’.
The Peninsula
