Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

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The principle goes like this; “ignorance of the law is no excuse” means that people can't defend their actions by claiming they didn't know the law. I was having a chat with a friend who is a layperson in law, sadly he isn’t interested in law-related subjects. I understand on one side, he can’t be invested in law like me as a lawyer, but when the law is published, it is for everyone. On the other side when the law is about to punish you can’t say you didn’t know what it provides.

Thomas Jefferson who was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Plus, he was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.[1] He said “Ignorance of the law is no excuse in any country. If it were, the laws would lose their effect, because it can always be pretended.”[2]

The achievements of the Judiciary over the year 2022/2023 in terms of timely and quality justice are commendable. This year’s report shows that the number of judged cases increased by 8,000 cases compared to the previous year. Over the past four years, the increase represents 29%. However, the number of case backlogs increased by 122% between 2019/2020 and 2022/2023. This is the result of the increase of new filed cases which stands at 22% during this period; the judged cases represent 87% compared to the new filed cases in 2022/2023. In terms of quality justice, the rate of injustice cases is 1% from 3% last year. In addition, the number of cases settled through mediation and plea bargaining are, 909 cases settled through mediation facilitated by court registrars during pretrial conference (an increase of 6% over the past 4 years), while Judges facilitated mediation in 283 cases (from 73 last year). In addition, this year 934 were settled through plea-bargaining.[3]

Despite the achievements of the judiciary; literacy levels in relation to laws remain very low. For example, according to research conducted by the Legal Aid Forum on Citizen Feedback on Justice and Legal Services in Rwanda (2017), on average, only 4% of the respondents rate their understanding of the law as high, an overwhelming percentage of 83% were not aware that there are any rights during pre-trial detention, and only 29% knew where they could find books and official gazettes containing laws used in Rwanda. Without a doubt, the statistics could be even higher among vulnerable groups specifically, women, children, youth, persons in detention, persons with disabilities, historically marginalized groups. When rights holders (citizens especially the most vulnerable groups) know the laws and Policies governing them, the level of compliance increases, and their capacity to invoke them to claim and exercise their valid rights enshrined therein, is strengthened. On the other hand, when duty bearers (policy makers as well as law and policy enforcement agents) are fully aware of the law, and conscious of fundamental rule of law principles, there will be more respect and compliance with the law, increased claim for rights and legal remedies in case of violation of citizen’s rights thus leading to increased entrenchment of the culture of rule of law.[4]

In the study conducted by Transparency International Rwanda submitted to Minijust, in 2012 entitled JUSTICE SECTOR USER PERCEPTION AND VICTIMIZATION STUDY, revealed a high level of confusion or misunderstanding among the population with regard to the functions of justice sector institutions. It was shown in the study that the majority of respondents believe that mediation committees (46.7%), ordinary courts (45.3%) and National Commission for Human Rights (18.2%) are mandated to provide legal advice, while this function instead lies with Maison d’Acces à la Justice (House for Public Access to Justice), private lawyers and with some NGOs. Only 1 in 10 respondents referred to the appropriate institutions. Again, this calls for the Ministry of Justice, MAJ, and CSOs to step up efforts in sensitizing people on the rights and the responsibilities of different institutions with the mandate to serve the population.  [5]

In the ANNUAL REPORT 2019/2020 FISCAL YEAR of Ministry of Justice on  Legal education in Rwanda’s community MAJ staff is again responsible to ensure that community legal awareness is raised in their respective Districts. Against this responsibility countrywide MAJ staff raised legal awareness and on average the campaign was conducted for around 692 sessions and reached 313,592 people among which 153,060 (49%) were females and 160,532 (51%) males. Looking at the number of people reached by the campaign, males constitute the majority of participants and stand for 51% against 49% of females . In general, topics below were conducted for citizen’s legal education in the period of 2019-2020 Fiscal Year: Law on the prevention and punishment of GBV and child abuse related crimes; Law governing Abunzi committees functioning; Law governing land in Rwanda; Law governing persons and family; Law governing matrimonial regimes, donations and successions; Law relating to the prevention, suppression and punishment of trafficking in persons and exploitation of others; Law relating the use of illicit drugs.

Rwanda has done a great job to ensure people are aware of their rights and to have places to look for legal advice so as to know their rights and obligation. LAIR as other NGOs is also motivated to contribute to the wide spread of awareness of rights and obligations provided by different laws.[6]

According to the NATIONAL PUBLIC PROSECUTION AUTHORITY QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT July – September 2022 published December, 2022. The NPPA public relations and outreach program seeked to build and maintain relationships with public and create a positive image and reputation. NPPA needed to engage population in its daily activities in order to prevent and render the effective prosecution services. The feedback from the service beneficiaries was crucial for institution. Since July to September 2022, different Radio and TV shows were organized, mainly on: 12th July 2022 on KT Radio: the role of National Public Prosecution Authority in tracking, investigation and Prosecution of genocide ideology related suspects in other countries; 19th August 2022, on Flash FM: the role of National Public Prosecution in recovering public embezzled funds; 24 August 2022 on ISANGO STAR: strategies for fight against child defilement crimes; 25th September 2022, on ROYAL FM: radio show was organized on court decision on case of RUSESABAGINA Paul.  Different sensitization campaigns for fighting against drug abuse in youth population and human trafficking were organized in primary and secondary schools in 5 Districts namely Musanze, Burera, Ngoma, Huye and Ngororero.[7] This is an example of the government is invested in educating the public on crimes and letting them know the consequences as provided by different laws.

All these facts show that the government does its best to let the public know about the law and the consequences that can come out if the people don’t know what the law provides. I can tell my dearest friend and anyone who will read this article that it’s better to find information related to laws especially those that prevent crimes and offences like, Law determining offences and penalties in general, GBV law, and of course the constitution which will give you the big picture. And don’t forget to check other laws.

Our country believes and practices rule of law, therefor ignorance of the law can’t be an excuse. Plus, the different ways the government invested in strong institutions, enacting laws, and putting in place different ways to get those laws, like on official website of ministry of justice, and the judiciary to mention a few. Lastly, my friend read the law for your own good.

 

I'm here to shed light on; Law, History, and Politics.

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