Judicial Power is exercised by the Supreme Court and other Courts and Tribunals established by Article 140 of the Rwandan Constitution.

In the Rwandan Constitution of 04 June 2003, Articles 60 and 61 determine that the Rwandan State is comprised of the separation of the three powers: the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary.

In 2003 Rwanda started a series of judicial reforms with the aim of having an independent, effective, efficient judicial system which is close to those to be tried and rendering coherent and uniform judicial decisions. In this vision, the Judiciary assigned itself a mission to dispense justice with fairness and integrity in order to serve those due to be tried and to contribute to the edification of a rule of law characterized notably by the respect of fundamental human liberties and rights. In order to concretize this mission, the judiciary set four objectives to achieve.

History of the Supreme Court

History of the Justiciary could be divided into four periods whose features are summarised as follows :

1. Period from 1961 to 1978

The Constitution of January 28, 1961 that instituted a Judicial Power of the Supreme Court that was composed of 5 members appointed by the President of the Republic. The latter had the power to appoint and dismiss the magistrates of the Supreme Court. With the advent of the Constitution of November 24, 1962, the Supreme Court was composed of 5 sections: the Department of Courts and Tribunals, the Court of Appeals, the Constitutional Court, the Council of State and the Audit Office