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The Cost of Being “Cool” Online: When Social Media Pressure Leads Youth into Crime

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  The law defines offences and their consequences. Yet many crimes committed by young people do not always come from deliberate criminal intent. They often arise from social pressure, a desire to be accepted, and limited awareness of the legal consequences of certain actions. In many cases, young people engage in risky behaviour to appear tough or “cool,” especially in groups where peer pressure encourages them to act without thinking about the long-term effects. According to the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA), 78 percent of crimes prosecuted between June 2023 and June 2024 involved suspects under the age of 40. [1] While this statistic does not mean that all young people are involved in crime, it highlights how youth are frequently present in criminal cases. One factor that increasingly shapes youth behaviour today is the influence of social media. Like many young people around the world, Rwandan youth are deeply connected to platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat...
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When Justice Becomes Automatic: The Warning Behind Mercy

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  Technological systems increasingly make decisions once reserved for human judgment. From warfare to administration, speed and automation promise efficiency, but they also shift responsibility away from human reasoning. Paul Scharre, in Army of None , explains why this shift matters. Machines can accelerate decisions, but they cannot understand them. The danger is not intelligence in machines — it is responsibility leaving humans. Machines apply rules. Humans interpret meaning. If removing human judgment creates an ethical gap in warfare, the same concern appears in law. Legal decisions carry irreversible consequences: liberty, property, reputation, sometimes life itself. A justice system therefore does more than determine facts — it legitimizes authority. People accept outcomes not only because they are correct, but because they were heard. That is why mediation exists. Mediation does not simply solve disputes; it produces acceptance. Participation transforms a decision into jus...
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Europe Is Not Rwanda’s Court of Appeal

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  In international law, jurisdiction is not a matter of moral confidence; it is a matter of legal authority. Yet recent interventions by the European Parliament in Rwanda’s domestic judicial affairs suggest a troubling assumption that political conviction can substitute for jurisdiction. Through resolutions, hearings, and public condemnations—most recently regarding the case of Victoire Ingabire—the European Parliament has increasingly positioned itself as an external reviewer of Rwanda’s courts. This posture may resonate politically in Brussels, but it is legally unsound and normatively problematic.   Rwanda is not a member of the European Union, nor is it subject to the European Parliament’s institutional competence. Its judiciary derives its authority from its Constitution, its laws, and its sovereign right to administer justice within its territory. Treating European parliamentary debate as a form of appellate oversight of Rwandan courts misunderstands both the lim...
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Faith, Ethics, and Justice: Solomonic Wisdom in Shaping Rwanda’s Future Judges

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  Two women, one child, and a decision that could change a life. Imagine standing in Solomon’s courtroom, hearing two competing claims with no witnesses, no documents, and no clear path to the truth. How would you decide?   King Solomon, renowned for wisdom, did not rely on procedure alone. Instead, he crafted a test: he suggested the child be divided in two. One woman immediately protested, saying the child should be spared, even if it meant losing her claim. In that moment, Solomon discerned the true mother and returned the child to her care.   This story, though ancient, holds a timeless lesson for today’s aspiring judges, particularly young Christian lawyers: judging is as much about wisdom, character, and discernment as it is about law.   Modern scholars, including L.H. LaRue and Lawrence C. George, have reflected on Solomon’s judgment as an early model of judicial discretion—deciding in moments of uncertainty and using insight to uncover truth. So...
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Plea Bargaining in Rwanda: How Law, Practice, and Data Are Converging to Reduce Case Backlogs

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    Delays in criminal justice are rarely caused by a lack of law. More often, they result from procedures that are ill-suited to the volume and complexity of cases before the courts. Rwanda ’s recent experience with plea bargaining demonstrates how carefully designed legal frameworks, when combined with institutional training and consistent application, can produce tangible results in reducing case backlogs.   The convergence of statutory reform, judicial practice directions, professional capacity-building, and emerging court statistics now provides a compelling picture of plea bargaining as a functional alternative to trial rather than a theoretical policy tool.   A Legal Framework Built for Efficiency   The reintroduction of plea bargaining under the Criminal Procedure Code of 2019 laid the statutory foundation for negotiated justice in Rwanda. This framework was further operationalized by the Practice Directions of the President of the Supr...
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When Legal Knowledge Fails Politicians: Why Law Degrees Don’t Automatically Produce Political Strategy

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In many political systems, particularly in Africa, a law degree is often perceived as a natural qualification for leadership. Lawyers are assumed to understand institutions, constitutional limits, rights, and procedures. As a result, when legally trained politicians fail to translate popularity into power or principle into policy, public frustration is acute. The central question, therefore, is not whether legal knowledge matters in politics, but why it so often fails to produce effective political strategy.   The experience of Bobi Wine in Uganda provides a useful point of departure. His case is not exceptional because he lacks legal training, but because he possesses it. Yet his political trajectory illustrates a broader misconception: that understanding the law is equivalent to knowing how to win, negotiate, or govern.   Legal education is fundamentally technical. It trains individuals to interpret rules, construct arguments, and operate within established institu...
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African Unity Without Foundations Is a Political Illusion

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  One of the most persistent analytical errors in discussions on African integration is the assumption that unity can be engineered through grand institutional designs alone—a single currency, open borders, or continent-wide economic blocs. This thinking, while well intentioned, mistakes outcomes for prerequisites. In reality, Africa’s central challenge is not the absence of ambitious integration projects, but the absence of a shared political foundation capable of sustaining them. The dominant narrative suggests that Africa should simply “do what Europe did”: adopt a common currency, allow free movement of people, and centralize decision-making through supranational institutions. Yet this comparison overlooks a fundamental difference. European integration was not merely a technical or economic exercise; it was a deeply political project rooted in a shared post-war consensus, stable state institutions, and relatively predictable systems of governance. Africa, by contrast, continu...
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