Rwanda’s judiciary handled 109,192 cases out of 182,527 scheduled for trial during the 2024/25 judicial year, Supreme Court President and head of the Judiciary Mukantaganzwa Domitilla announced Monday, September 1, 2025, at the official launch of the 2025/26 judicial year.
According to her report on last year’s performance, the courts received 106,254 new cases in addition to 76,273 pending cases from the 2023/24 judicial year. “This means that the courts had a total of 182,527 cases to hear, of which 109,192 were concluded,” she said.
Of the resolved cases, 92,880—or 85%—were heard on the merits, while 16,312—or 15%—involved provisional detentions and bail matters.
Mukantaganzwa highlighted the judiciary’s progress in alternative dispute resolution and plea bargaining. In 2024/25, 15,012 cases were settled through mediation or agreements between parties. This included 3,186 civil, commercial, labor, and administrative cases resolved through mediation and 11,846 criminal cases concluded via plea agreements.
Chief Prosecutor Habyarimana Angelique reported that 78,489 cases were filed with the prosecution, of which 75,732—or 96.4%—were processed, surpassing the performance target of 96%. Courts received 42,279 cases, while 33,453 were closed through settlements, fines, or alternative resolutions. Specifically, mediation resolved 2,004 cases, administrative fines 559, and plea agreements 11,846.
“Progress has been made in collaboration between the judiciary and prosecution to ensure suspects are prosecuted without unnecessary detention,” Habyarimana said, stressing that this does not grant impunity to criminals.
From July 2024 to June 2025, the prosecution won over 93% of the 42,000 cases it pursued in various courts. Overall, the judiciary concluded 124,204 cases through trials, provisional detentions, mediation, and plea agreements in the 2024/25 year.
Despite these achievements, 58,323 cases remained pending, including 26,862 backlogs. Mukantaganzwa attributed the backlog partly to citizens’ reluctance to engage with the judicial process and delays caused by parties disputing court decisions.
The judicial year in Rwanda runs from July 1 to June 30 annually.
