News
Monday, June 16, 2014
Rwanda handling 20 arbirations
KIGALI, Rwanda - The Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC) has to date received 20 arbitration cases.
These include international cases and this is attributed to the good coordination between KIAC and the Rwanda Judiciary,” Bernadette Uwicyeza, the KIAC Secretary General said recently.
She was speaking during a recent international conference on arbitration. The theme was ‘Emerging issues in International Arbitration: What a New Arbitral Seat can anticipate’.
Chief Justice of Rwanda His Lordship Prof. Sam Rugege said such a conference was in Rwanda’s judiciary vision of ensuring that disputes are resolved amicably.
“Rwanda already has home grown solutions in matters of alternative justice such as the Gacaca court system, and the Mediation Committees which aim at ensuring that the backlog of cases in court is reduced,” Rugege said.
The conference attracted over 150 participants from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Singapore, South Korea, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Rwanda, UK, USA, Malaysia, among others.
“This conference is part of KIAC’S continuous efforts to institutionalize knowledge sharing, exchanging experiences and building partnership and cooperation on international arbitration practices that will improve the profession in Rwanda as well as the rest of the African countries,” Uwicyeza told participants.
The conference was organized by the KIAC which opened in the country two years ago, in collaboration with the Private Sector Federation of Rwanda and was funded by the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF).
Ways to resolve business disputes easily without going through courts in Rwanda and internationally were discussed re-emphasizing the already improving business dispute law of Rwanda since 2008.
By Agnes Bateta, Monday, June 16th, 2014