During a ceremony at the Supreme Court headquarters, the President of the Bar Vincent Karangwa urged the newcomers to adhere to their professional ethics.
Agreeing wholeheartedly with him, Judge Johnston Busingye, President of the High Court, the second most important judiciary institution after the Supreme Court, emphasized that becoming a lawyer was not a shortcut to illegal enrichment.
Some Rwandan lawyers are suspected of involving in corrupt practices. With these new members, Kigali's Bar registers a total of 730 lawyers. When it was created in 1997, the Bar counted 38 lawyers and 7 interns.
Before 1997, there was no Bar in Kigali. The Minister of Justice used to deliver the right to plead to anyone he wished, including people without any judicial background.
Between 1996 and 2003, Rwandan lawyers' main activity has been to defend genocide-accused or to plead the cases of genocide victims. Many lawyers were paid thanks to the financial support of Lawyers without Borders.
SRE-ER/GF/FK
© Hirondelle News Agency