Rugege was speaking last week while launching a three-day retreat that brought together the heads of Supreme Court, High Court and Court of Appeal in Bugesera District.
The retreat was aimed at discussing ways of harnessing collaboration between courts, and discussing impact of reforms that have recently been introduced in the sector.
He said that backlog tops challenges in the sector, a reason they set up Court of Appeal which would support the existing judiciary system.
“Backlog, at some point are caused by judges who do not thoroughly investigate the cases, recurrent excuses leading to hearing adjournment and poor collaboration with court clerks,” he said.
He said that among many reforms in the sector, a Court of Appeal was established to help reduce the backlog in Supreme Court.
At the retreat, Judge Angeline Rutazana expressed that the establishment of Court of Appeal and review of the law will help them try many cases in short period.
“The law permits one Court of Appeal judge to hear a case from start to end, so, we are optimistic that this move will help trying many cases in a short period,” she explained.
Information from the Judiciary indicates that in 2017, backlog cases in the Supreme Court were 77 per cent.
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