UK (Commonwealth Union)_ Kenya and Rwanda have emerged victorious in the inaugural Commonwealth Access to Justice Innovation Awards, celebrating their pioneering governmental initiatives aimed at enhancing access to legal services for marginalized populations. The awards ceremony held recently in Zanzibar alongside the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting, showcased initiatives that leverage innovation to promote meaningful access to justice and contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal target 16.3, ensuring equal justice for all.
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During the awards ceremony, Rwanda’s Ministry of Justice clinched two awards. The first award honored its Abunzi (Mediators) Committee Project, initiated in 2004, which employs traditional conflict resolution methods to address disputes at the grassroots level, fostering community cohesion. The second award honored the Ministry’s integrated electronic case management system, initiated in 2016, which streamlined judicial processes through automation and enabled seamless information sharing among institutions, thereby expediting justice delivery.
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Applications for the awards were submitted by government ministers and departments throughout the Commonwealth. Accordingly, a jury comprising retired judges, former attorneys general, and nonprofit officials evaluated the entries based on criteria such as creativity, impact, and potential for durable change. In Kenya, the Office of the Registrar Magistrates Courts was honored for its small claims court, a key component of the country’s vision for ‘Social Transformation through Access to Justice.’ This court provides a simpler, faster, and more affordable alternative for resolving claims valued at up to 1 million Kenyan shillings (approximately US $6,950), having resolved over 50,000 cases in the past three years.
Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, lauded the innovative efforts of Rwanda and Kenya in advancing access to justice for all. She emphasized the importance of leveraging knowledge, ingenuity, and imagination to address the formidable challenges of access to justice, commending the awarded initiatives for their positive impact and exemplary contributions toward ensuring that no one is left behind. She stated, “The need to address the formidable challenges of access to justice cannot be overstated. We can only rise to the challenges by unleashing our knowledge, ingenuity and imagination. Those being awarded today reinforce our faith in our ability to be the difference we want to see in the world.”
Accepting the award, Rwanda’s Justice Minister and Attorney General, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, highlighted the goal of providing access to justice to as many people as possible through innovation, with technology playing a crucial role in achieving this objective. He said, “When we do this innovation, it is because we want as many people as possible to have access to justice and have appropriate means of resolving disputes. Technology has helped us achieve that and being awarded is just a bonus.”
Apart from country awards, Patricia Scotland also revealed two winners of the inaugural Secretary-General’s Pro Bono Heroes Awards. The first recipient was Ugandan nonprofit Barefoot Law, recognized for leveraging technology to offer free legal support and information to approximately one million individuals. The second award honored a pan-Commonwealth team headed by Australian expert Loretta Joseph for their interdisciplinary work in establishing a legal framework for virtual assets.
