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Summary: General overview of Rwanda's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.
National laws on children's rights Status of the CRC in national law Constitution: Title II of the Constitution of Rwanda contains a number of rights provisions that apply regardless of age, but there are also a small number throughout the Constitution that specifically address the rights of children: Legislation: there is no comprehensive or consolidated Children's Act or Code in Rwandan law, rather provisions relevant to children can be found in a number of Codes, Organic Laws and Ordinary Laws. Legislation of particular relevance to children includes, but is by no means limited to: Legal Research Case Law Case Law Research Compliance with the CRC In depth analysis The Committee raised a large number of concerns with regards to children in conflict with the law, in particular noting the limited progress in establishing a functioning juvenile justice system. The Committee raised serious concerns about the lack of appropriately trained legal professionals; the poor conditions in detention facilities for children; the overuse of, and extremely long periods of, pre-trial detention; and the lack of assistance towards the rehabilitation and reintegration of children following judicial proceedings. The corresponding recommendations focussed on a range of reforms, including ensuring that deprivation of liberty is only used as a measure of last resort, that persons under 18 have access to legal assistance during the early stages of legal proceedings, that children do not receive the same sanctions as adults and that an independent child-sensitive system complaints procedure be set up for children in the justice system. Current legal reform projects
Under Article 190 of the Constitution of Rwanda international treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, take precedence over national laws. In principle, this provision should permit the courts to apply the Convention where it contradicts domestic legislation, but it is unclear if any court has done so.
The national Constitution is available through the website of the Rwandan Parliament (http://www.rwandaparliament.gov.rw/parliament/default.aspx) and website of the Rwandan Chamber of Deputies has published its legislation since 2012 in English, French and Kinyarwanda (http://www.rwandaparliament.gov.rw/parliament/Chamber_of_Deputies_Publications.aspx). The Droit-Afrique website provides access to a selection of Rwandan legislation in French (http://www.droit-afrique.com/index.php/content/view/88/181/) as does the World Law Guide website (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwerwa.htm). In addition, the GlobaLex initiative at New York University has published a guide to legal research in Rwanda (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Rwanda.htm) and the U.S. Law Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/rwanda.php) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.commonlii.org/resources/2704.html) both provide a selection of links to legal and governmental resources.
CRC Jurisprudence
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any cases in national courts that reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The website of the Supreme Court publishes case law in Kinyarwanda, French and English, (http://www.supremecourt.gov.rw/) but was not available at the time of writing.
In its Concluding Observations of 2004, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern that legislation such as Law No. 27/2001 on the Rights of the Child and Protection of Children against Abuse had not been fully implemented. The Committee also noted that other legislation relevant to children, including customary law, was not compatible with the principles and provisions of the Convention.
Violence against children also emerged from the Committee's 2004 Observations as an area of national law that fell short of the standards set by the Convention. While noting that Law No. 27/2001 included a prohibition on torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the Committee expressed concern that this prohibition was not matched by corresponding offences in the Penal Code. The Committee also noted the prevalence of child abuse and domestic violence and recommended that the State ensure that cases of violence against children be investigated through a child-sensitive judicial procedure, and establish an individual complaint procedure to address violence against children. The Committee also called on the State to reform its laws on corporal punishment to institute an explicit prohibition in all settings.
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal research projects.