Rwanda won the inaugural Commonwealth Access to Justice Innovation Awards through the Ministry of Justice for improving access to legal services for vulnerable people.
The award was presented to Rwanda during the 2024 Commonwealth Law Ministers meeting in Zanzibar from March 4th to 8th, under the theme: “Technology and Innovation: How Digitalization paves the way for the development of people-centered access to justice.”
Rwanda’s Ministry of Justice received the award for its two innovative projects: Mediators, or ‘Abunzi’ and the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS).
“When we innovate, it is because we want as many people as possible to have access to justice and appropriate means of resolving disputes. Technology has helped us achieve that and being awarded is just a bonus,” said Rwanda’s Minister of Justice, Dr. Emmanuel Ugirashebuja.
During the summit, Ministers and Attorney Generals discussed new and innovative solutions to drive action on people-centered justice systems that meet the legal needs of all 2.5 billion Commonwealth citizens.
This platform allowed Law Ministers of Commonwealth countries to explain how technology and innovation have potentially advanced equitable access to justice by creating more streamlined and accessible processes. This ensures the scalable, transparent, responsive, and data-driven transformation of justice systems.