175. The National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC), National
Human Rights Commission, National Prosecution Service, Rwanda National
Police, the Ombudsman Office, Civil Society including NGOs for Human
Rights regularly organise various training and sensitisation programs
designed for public and administrative leaders related to awareness raising
of the ACHPR.
176. Equally, Faculties of Law in different Rwanda Universities have made
human rights as one of their compulsory and important courses. This has
allowed students to enhance their knowledge in human rights and
understand the African human rights system. The Institute of Legal Practice
and Development and the National Commission for Human Rights
facilitated in different trainings to different stakeholders in relation to
international treaties relating to human rights. The Institute for legal Practice
and Development periodically conducts capacity building for judges and
other judicial officers. In 2013 Judges were trained on the application of
international human rights law in national courts. In the same year, the
National Commission for Human Rights also trained 40 judges of primary
and intermediate courts.
177. The Institute of Legal Practice and Development also enhances the
capacities of all public judicial officers (judges, prosecutors and all other
officials in the areas of justice administration) without exemption of private
practitioners (lawyers and advocates. One of the main objectives of the
institute is to strengthen the justice sector by not only enhancing the capacity
of judicial personnel but also increasing and inspiring legal practitioners to
use international law – ACHPR included. The ILPD contributes to this
objective through practical legal training offered to practitioners from
different stakeholders of the entire justice sector.
Article 26: Independence of the courts
178. The Constitution of Rwanda of 2003 revised in 2015, guarantees the
independence of the judiciary. Article 150 enshrines institutional
independence as follows: The Judiciary is independent and exercises
financial and administrative autonomy. Article 151(5), on the other hand,
guarantees personal independence. It requires impartiality on the part of
judges and deals with their security of tenure and their terms and conditions
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