A public institution court case hearing. Legal officers attached to
Rwandan government departments want to be under direct employment of the
Ministry of Justice. PHOTO | FILE
By Robert Mbaraga
In Summary
- In a quarterly meeting held early December, the Ministry of Justice recommended that government legal officers should be giving legal opinions whenever they deem necessary even when they are not requested to by their superior.
- With the new proposed approach of documenting every legal opinion the government expects reduction in cases it defends, anticipating that leaders will follow provided legal opinions for fear of suffering personal liability.
- The suggested method was however received with scepticism by some legal officers, raising worries that it might pit them against their bosses.
Legal officers attached to Rwanda's government departments
say that only placing them under direct employment of the Ministry of
Justice will give them the security and courage to save the government
from lawsuits as a result of wrong decisions by senior officers.
Reacting to a new proposal by the Ministry of Justice that would
require them to put on record their objections to decisions by their
superiors that they consider illegal, the legal officers said they
feared a breakdown in the working relationship with their bosses.
In a quarterly meeting held early December, the Ministry of
Justice recommended that government legal officers should be giving
legal opinions whenever they deem necessary even when they are not
requested to by their superior.
“You should provide written legal opinions to your superiors to
keep evidence even when they did not seek them from you, prepare proper
job contracts, public tenders and if you come across any challenge do
not hesitate to seek advice from the Ministry of Justice,” said Evode
Uwizeyimana, the State Minister for Constitutional and Legal affairs.
A report presented by Isabelle Kalihangabo, the Permanent
Secretary and Solicitor General showed that the government was involved
in 515 cases in fiscal 2015/2016.
Apart from 131 cases that are yet to be decided, of all 384
decided cases the government won 285 approximately 76 per cent and lost
99 (24 per cent).
“It is observed that the winning rate has increased, however, we
still have a long way to go in order to reach the target of “zero
litigation,” Ms Kalihangabo said.
Zero litigation
The “zero litigation” target however is up against persistent
reports of leaders in government institutions who do not involve legal
officers in decision making and only inform them when there are pending
lawsuits.
Some others, according to the Ministry of Justice, seek legal
opinions before taking decisions but often ignore them and take contrary
decisions resulting in upsurge of court cases against the state
involving millions of taxpayers’ money.
With the new proposed approach of documenting every legal
opinion the government expects reduction in cases it defends,
anticipating that leaders will follow provided legal opinions for fear
of suffering personal liability.
The suggested method was however received with scepticism by
some legal officers, raising worries that it might pit them against
their bosses.
“The idea is good and as predicted by the ministry it would
cover the legal officers in terms of keeping evidence. However, it is
likely to put us in a vulnerable position since our direct bosses will
start seeing us as opponents” said a legal officer who did not want to
be named.
For fear of repercussion, the official and his peers who spoke to Rwanda Today on conditions of anonymity called for special arrangement that would “give them more independence.”
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