The two-day conference included presentations on various relevant topics of interest for the legal community of East Africa. The topics that were discussed were harnessing democracies in East Africa; progress towards the East African Common market; the quest for free and fair electoral processes in East Africa and access to justice for all. Papers on these topics that were written for the purpose of the discussions will be available soon on the EALS website.

With the growing standardization and harmonization of laws across the East Africa Community (EAC), the language barrier between the Anglophone Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and the mostly Francophone Burundi and Rwanda becomes particularly challenging. Even within Rwanda the situation is tricky as lawyers can plead in court in French, English or Kinyarwanda, making the procedure at times very complex, labor-intensive and time-consuming. To get lawyers excited about the upcoming manual, IBJ developed a 50-page glossary of English/French and French/English legal terms pertaining to the field of criminal law with the support of the EALS, the Burundi Bar Association and the Kigali Bar Association. The glossary translates more than 800 legal terms from English to French and vice versa. 400 printed copies of the manual have been distributed at the East Africa Law Society Annual General Meeting and Conference on November 19^th and 20^th 2010 in Bujumbura, Burundi, creating a sensation within the East African legal community. Many lawyers appreciated the glossary and showed interest in IBJ’s work in the different communities of East Africa. At the end of the conference, only ten of the 400 copies were left. Additionally, a reception that was organized for those attending ensured that lawyers could interact informally and enabled our fellows to meet interesting people – including the newly elected President of the EALS, the CEO of the EALS and of the national bar associations, as well as individual lawyers – and spread the word about IBJ.

This meeting was an excellent platform to increase IBJ’s work visibility across East africa, launch the IBJ East Africa project and to reassert IBJ’s commitment to improving the legal system and legal integration in East Africa.

Above: IBJ Rwanda Fellow John Bosco Bugingo (left) and Burundi Fellow Astère Muyango (right) meet with the EALS CEO Tito Byenkya (middle) (Photo by Janvier Ncamatwi).

Above: IBJ Burundi Fellows Astère Muyango and Janvier Ncamatwi congratulate the new President of the EALS (far left) (Photo by Aline Nijimbere).

Above: IBJ Rwanda and Burundi Fellows pose with the CEO of the EALS (far left) and the Burundi expert of the drafting committee of the IBJ/EALS defense manual (far right) (Photo by Aline Nijimbere).

Above: The newly elected committee of the EALS (Photo by Astère Muyango).

The content of the manual will be jointly developed by an international expert in the field of criminal defense and a team of local experts, nominated by the national Bar associations, who are best poised to make sure that cultural and country-specific issues are tackled in the manual.  The manual will outline best practices and advocacy techniques with a focus on enhancing legal knowledge, practical defense skills – particularly trial skills, education on international norms and standards and some examples of their domestic implementation in all five countries. It will include practical tips about ways to mount a vigorous defense and include forms, checklists, and memos to help lawyers prepare and manage their cases.

It will be distributed through the national Bar Associations of the member countries and will be available online on the EALS website and IBJ’s Elearning platform. A French version will also be made available for Francophone lawyers in Rwanda and Burundi. We expect the first draft of the manual to be completed by April 2011.

Download the IBJ English/French Legal Lexicon

IBJ is committed to contributing to the growing regional integration in other ways aswell. On November 19 and 20, the EALS is hosting its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Bujumbura, Burundi. IBJ Rwanda and Burundi Fellows John Bosco and Astère and IBJ Burundian Legal Fellows Aline Nijimbere and Janvier Ncamatwi will participate in the lively discussions that will undoubtedly take place, strengthening the relationship with the East Africa legal community. Furthermore, IBJ has produced a glossary of English/French legal terms for the use of East Africa Francophone lawyers which will facilitate the integration of Rwanda and Burundi into the Anglophone East Africa Community. We are hoping to distribute copies of the glossary at the EALS AGM.

Furthermore, this cooperation is an excellent opportunity for IBJ to establish a base to promote access to legal counsel and human rights across East African countries. With this project we have laid the first foundations for a possible East Africa Defender Resource Hub which will support – both at the national and regional level – criminal defender trainings as well as the implementation of coordinated answers to the challenges of the criminal justice system  throughout East Africa. This way, we will reduce the prevalence of torture in pretrial detention and help the accused in East Africa. Therefore, we are very excited to kickstart the development of the manual and future cooperation in East Africa and thank the International Bar Association for their support.

Above: John Bosco (left), IBJ Rwanda Fellow and Astère (right), IBJ Burundi Fellow at the EALS 2009 AGM where the foundations for cooperation between the EALS and IBJ were laid

Above: Astère (left) and Bruce Kyerere, the Uganda Law Society President at the 2009 EALS AGM (Photo by John Bosco Bugingo)

Above: Astère (right) with Dr. Fauz Twaib, the Tanzania Law Society President at the 2009 EALS AGM (Photo by John Bosco Bugingo)

One of the difficulties that came up in the discussions was the need to travel long distances repeatedly, especially because cases can take up to ten court hearings before being resolved. Also, the lack of access to legal resources in print and on the internet has been highlighted as a difficulty by some of the Task Force members. IBJ is striving to fill this gap by providing visitors to the DRC with the opportunity to use a new desktop computer to conduct online legal resource and access IBJ’s eLearning platform. A collection of human rights and criminal law books kindly donated by Book Aid International is on its way.

Members of the Task Force were interested in improving their legal English skills at the DRC and on IBJ’s online Legal Training Resource Center. This is important, particularly in the context of the growing regional integration which requires use of legal English and familiarity with the adversarial system in force in the vast majority of the East African countries. Lawyers highlighted defender capacity building and regular mentoring sessions as a core strategy to help ensure greater quality of legal counsel throughout the proceedings. In this regard, they will find the new glossary developed by IBJ, translating legal jargon from French to English, very useful.

The discussions also emphasized the need for continuous education and awareness-raising among the public to help them demand their rights, in particular their right to a lawyer in case of arrest. Members of the Task Force committed to systematically inform their clients and detainees of their basic legal rights while conducting prison visits. Intensified education of prison wardens and officials was also identified as a strategy to ensure increased access to legal aid.  By addressing these issues, the Task Force members are closing the gap in legal aid provision in criminal cases, as the Government-sponsored legal aid centers called Maisons d’ Accès a la Justice primarily focus on civil cases.

Following up on the need to create a tighter connection between the Task Force and the DRC, two particularly dedicated, outspoken and determined Task Force members – Mary Katushabe and Olivier Gatabazi – were elected Task Force representatives by the rest of the lawyers over the course of the meeting. Both display an unwavering commitment to criminal legal aid: of the six cases that Olivier is handling on behalf of IBJ none of them is financially supported; and as for Mary, she is representing eighteen indigents on behalf of IBJ and is fully supported for only seven of them. The two representatives will act as liaison between the Task Force members and the DRC, thus ensuring the constant flow of communication between the lawyers and IBJ. The Task Force Justice Café discussion that took place on the 30^th of September proved to be valuable in identifying key challenges and possible solutions and maintaining the momentum among the volunteer lawyers who have already assisted 135 detainees, with on-going mentoring from IBJ Rwanda Fellow. This will ultimately ensure that the criminally accused get the most professional and best defense possible and will bring Rwanda one step closer to IBJ’s mission of ensuring that every man, woman and child accused of a crime has effective access to legal counsel.

The next Task Force meeting will take place on November 26^th. In the meantime, the volunteer lawyers will participate in group or one-on-one mentoring sessions at the DRC where newly-minted lawyers will be able to learn “on the job”. We are excited that the Task Force members are recognized as contributing to and promoting positive change in the criminal justice system. They are motivated to continue on this course and even find possible funding sources for legal aid pilot projects.

Since its inception, the IBJ Rwanda Program was housed at the firm of the IBJ Country Fellow, Bugingo – “JB” to those who know him -with the patient acquiescence of his partners. The office kept long hours, as he transitioned seamlessly between the roles of public defender and IBJ Fellow.

The opening of the DRC is a significant achievement, and represents one of four components of the IBJ-Rwanda program. The purpose of the DRC is to provide a forum for public defenders to access legal resources, prepare cases, and seek advisement from IBJ criminal defense experts. The DRC is funded with a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

The IBJ-Rwanda program also includes provisions for a criminal defense task force, which in partnership with the Kigali Bar Association and the Ministry of Justice, seeks to improve Rwanda’s legal aid capacity. Before opening the DRC, IBJ-Rwanda successfully conducted the first of many national campaigns intended to educate the citizenry of their basic legal rights. Also, the program seeks to create a core of well-trained defense lawyers through a series of special training events – the second of which occurs on July 2nd and 3rd. These are ambitious projects, which the opening of the IBJ-Rwanda Headquarters and DRC is intended to facilitate.

As the nation prepares to celebrate during the upcoming holidays, the IBJ-Rwanda staff, volunteers, and associates are continuing to pursue their mandate: to fundamentally change defense practices in Rwanda to ensure that the legal system benefits its citizens. Though less monumental than Rwanda’s Independence and Liberation Day Commemorations, the opening of the Kigali DRC is surely also worth celebrating.

Above: Building in Remera, Kigali which houses IBJ-Rwanda DRC. (Photo by Hadijah Batamuriza)

Above: Rwanda Country Fellow John Bosco Bugingo (right) and DRC Coordinator Hadijah Batamuriza (left) (Photo by Patrick Pratt)

Above: Patrick Pratt – IBJ Rwanda intern, summer 2010 (Photo by Hadijah Batamuriza)

Above: Lawyers Isaac Bizumunemyi (left) and Herbert Rubasha (right) (Photo by John Bosco Bugingo)

Above: The President of the Kigali Bar Association (left) and IBJ Rwanda Fellow (right) (Photo by Herbet Rubasha)

The topics of provisional detention and release under Rwandan criminal Law, the principle of presumption of innocence, legally acceptable detentions, reasons for provisional detention and release, law of evidence and bail were discussed in a constructive atmosphere.

The show created momentum among listeners: many people called and sent SMS to get clarifications on concepts that they are unfamiliar with. One of them asked what the minimum age of criminal responsibility was. Another asked what steps should be taken when someone has been unlawfully detained. From the many comments, questions and messages of encouragement received, it appears clearly that the program answers needs and a curiosity that have remained unmet until now.

The next program is scheduled for Sunday 29th November 2009. Stay tuned for updates!

Above: Herbert Rubasha (left), member of IBJ Rwanda Advisory Council and John Bosco Bugingo (right) (Photo by Isaac Bizumunemyi)

The launching date is November 1st. Contact Fm, a popular radio with nationwide broadcasts, partners with IBJ to carry out this project. Adverts informing about the campaign are already on tunes in Kinyarwanda, Rwanda’s local language. Each of the 8 programs will focus on the legal rights of the accused at the different stages of the proceeding: the rights at time of arrest, the right to legal counsel, and the rights during investigation, detention and trial.

The live talk shows will feature prominent personalities of the Rwandan criminal justice system. Among them, the Bâtonnier (President of the Kigali Bar Association) Maître Vincent Karangwa will honor the first program of his presence. Bosco, IBJ Rwanda Fellow, will lead the  discussions.

Of all the media, radio is by far the most accessible, pervasive, and most effective medium for disseminating information. Research and educational organizations that monitor the reception of programs have proven that effective educational radio programs can indeed change listeners’ behavior and lead to the growth of knowledge. This is what we envision in Rwanda, so that every man, woman and child is capable of demanding respect of their legal rights in case of arrest.

Stay tuned for updates!

Above: From left to right: Me Vincent Karangwa, President of the Bar Association, Karen Tse, IBJ Founder and John Bosco Bugingo, IBJ Rwanda Fellow (Photo by Sanjeewa Liyanage)