One week on the job - 18 Aug., 2010

On Wednesday 11 August 2010 I had my introductory meeting with Hon. Aloyise Cyziayne, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rwanda (her title in Francophile is Presidente, but to Anglophiles she is known as Chief Justice). I arrived at the Supreme Court Building accompanied by representatives from a USAID project, though which my clerkship was facilitated. We were greeted at the ground floor entrance, and ushered up stairs to the fourth floor, where the Chief Justice’s office is located. We were directed into an office, and took a seat on some couches in the office. I presumed that this was the Chief Justice’s office, but it was just a place for us to wait until she was ready to meet with us, and we were ushered out of that room and into her office (a far nicer room).

The Chief Justice is a quiet woman with a commanding presence. Sitting with her was certainly an intimidating experience. We had a brief conversation, largely in French, and I was instructed that I would start the next day at 7am.

My first few days were spend familiarizing myself with Rwandan law. There are three official languages in Rwanda – Kinyarwanda, French, and English. If you’re really lucky, you can find some documents (like the Constitution) that are in all three. Often times laws, especially older laws, are only in Kinyarwanda and French. The country as a whole is in the midst of a transition from French to English. So, most Court personnel are eager to speak with me in English, until we hit a wall and have to switch over to French.

My fist assignment was to edit and re-write a speech the Chief Justice is giving at the end of the week at a conference on good governance in Nairobi. It was a fun assignment, and I imagined myself as Rob Lowe from TV’s West Wing! This week I received my first case assignment, an appeal from the High Commercial Court in a contract dispute. There is definitely no legal research equivalent to Westlaw or Lexis in Rwanda. There are some online sites for searching laws, but there’s also no guarantee that the PDFs will be accessible online. The Court building has a small (SMALL) Court library on the 6th floor (stairs only – whew!) where all the laws can be accessed. Things are relatively slow moving, because the pleadings are all in French (and some unimportant documents in Kinyarwanda). The hearing is next week, and I expect to have my memorandum complete this week.

Everyone has been very welcoming, and people still periodically pop in to introduce themselves, and say hello. If I had to sum up the Rwandan culture, I would say that everyone has been very welcoming and gracious. It is truly a nice experience to feel so welcomed by just about anyone you have a chance encounter with.