Chief Justice, Faustin Ntezilyayo, on Wednesday, August 16, began a three-day working visit to Singapore aimed at strengthening judicial cooperation between both countries.

During the first day of the visit, Ntezilyayo met with Singapore’s Attorney-General, Lucien Wong for a courtesy call that was also attended by Deputy Attorney-Generals, Lionel Yee, and Ang Cheng Hock as well as Solicitor-General, Daphne Hong.

On Thursday, he held bilateral talks with his Singaporean counterpart Sundaresh Menon and visited the Singapore Management University's Yong Pung How School of Law.

In his address, he said the main objective for his visit is to learn from the “esteemed” Singapore Judiciary, build upon the two countries’ partnership achievements, and further strengthen the bonds of cooperation between the two judiciaries.

“We recognize that knowledge knows no boundaries and in the pursuit of justice, no single system has all the answers, but by integrating the best practices from each other, we are better positioned to overcome any challenges,” he said.

Rwanda and Singapore have a couple of partnerships in the judicial sector. In 2021, the supreme courts of the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial cooperation aimed at, among other things, enhancing cooperation and promoting the efficient administration of justice in their respective jurisdictions.

The MoU provides for exchange of experiences and discussions on matters of common interest. It also lays the foundation for cooperation between the two parties in areas such as electronic case management system and administration, court-annexed mediation and out-of-court mediation, small claims procedures, and capacity building through online and face-to-face training.

In the same year, the two parties signed a Memorandum of Guidance which sets out the requirements and procedures for the enforcement of monetary judgments by both parties regarding person-to-person monetary disputes.

Ntezilyayo noted that the cooperation between the two countries’ judiciaries is bringing about benefits for Rwanda, including different training sessions in which Rwandan judicial officials participated in Singapore, that are aimed at improving the administration of justice in our countries.

“The knowledge and expertise shared during these sessions have played a vital role in enhancing the competence and professionalism of our legal practitioners and judicial officers,” he said.

He pointed out some of the things that his team hopes to learn from Singapore, including how the specialist courts of the country work. The Asian country has specialist courts including the Singapore International Commercial Court; Family Justice Courts, and so on. - Hudson Kuteesa, The New Times