On Tuesday 29^th May 2018, Minister of Justice and Attorney General Busingye Johnston together with Evode Uwizeyimana, the Minister of State in charge of Constitutional and Legal Affairs had a press conference with the media with the purpose of deeply explaining ongoing reforms in the Justice Sector and the legal amendments to the Penal Code.

During the press conference, Minister Busingye said that 24 laws have been moved from the Penal Code book to the criminal law book. He explained that there is no new law but many of them are rarely used and hence perceived as new laws. “The 24 laws which were moved are usual laws, they have been existing before, taking an example of the firearms law, it has always been in use since 2009 the last time it’s have been revised, the problem is that many Rwandans did not know about it’ ’. Minister Busingye added.

However, Minister Busingye explained that the existence of the law regulating possession and selling of fire arms does not mean that firearms will be sold in shops; there are strict requirements close to “impossible” to be allowed to sell them in Rwanda. “It is not that easy to be allowed to possess or to sell firearms, it’s close to impossible because the law provides for requirements which are very strict and tough and one of them is that the final decision must be taken by the Cabinet meeting chaired by the President of the Republic. I am not aware if there is any other business which requires the authorization from the Cabinet meeting”. Busingye said. He added that Rwandans do not need to possess firearms because their security is well ensured.  

Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Busingye Johnston pointed out that in order to streamline service delivery, the Ministry of Justice established the court of Appeal.  The Supreme Court will only carry out the primary work of correcting and giving directions regarding judicial operations across all courts.