Arbitration & Disputes

Where commercial disputes are decided

Rwanda has a unified court system with specialised commercial courts. Under Law N° 30/2018 of 02/06/2018 determining the jurisdiction of courts, commercial claims of up to RWF 5,000,000 go to the 41 Primary Courts, and every other commercial, financial and fiscal case, from contract and banking disputes to insolvency, intellectual property, competition, public tenders and tax, goes at first instance to the Commercial Court, with appeal to the Commercial High Court. Both sit in Kigali and have jurisdiction over the whole country. Above them are the Court of Appeal, which hears second appeals only on listed grounds, and the Supreme Court, which reviews final judgments vitiated by injustice. The courts will hear foreign parties in the cases listed in Article 14, have declined to give effect to an exclusive foreign-court clause where its convenience was not shown, and send to arbitration any dispute covered by a valid arbitration agreement. The structure, the choice between court and arbitration, and the language rule are in The court system and choice of forum.

How a commercial case runs

Law No 22/2018 of 29/04/2018 relating to the civil, commercial, labour and administrative procedure, as amended in 2021 and 2024, sets a procedure designed for speed: electronic filing through IECMS, a compulsory pre-trial conference before the registrar at which the parties are offered conciliation, at most two adjournments at a party's request, fines for delaying tactics, and a rule that every case must be decided within six months of referral. The filing fee deposit is RWF 20,000 in the Commercial Court. Urgent interim orders are made within 48 hours of the hearing in summary proceedings, a creditor can freeze the debtor's land at the land registry, and holders of unpaid cheques, bills and commercial debts can have a bailiff seize assets subject to confirmation in court within 48 hours. Claims of up to RWF 5,000,000 may use a small-claims procedure with no pre-trial conference and no appeal. The steps, fees and time limits, and what the court-sanctioned conciliation does, are in Commercial litigation step by step.

Arbitration in Kigali and KIAC

Law N° 005/2008 of 14/02/2008 on arbitration and conciliation in commercial matters follows the UNCITRAL Model Law closely, including its 2006 provisions on interim measures. An arbitration agreement must be in writing, and an email exchange qualifies; the default tribunal has three arbitrators of any nationality; and, if the parties do not agree a seat, the arbitration takes place in Rwanda. An award made in Rwanda can be set aside only on the Model Law grounds, with the public-policy ground phrased as conflict with the public security of Rwanda, on an application to the Commercial High Court within 30 days whose ruling is not open to appeal. The Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC), established by Law N° 51/2010, administers cases under the KIAC Rules of 2012, which provide for scrutiny of draft awards, an emergency arbitrator and confidentiality. Government officials may not agree ad hoc arbitration or any international arbitration clause other than one referring to KIAC. The law, the Rules, costs and the case law are in Arbitration law and KIAC.

Foreign awards and foreign judgments

Rwanda acceded to the New York Convention on 31 October 2008, in force from 29 January 2009, and Law N° 005/2008 recognises awards irrespective of the country in which they were made, on production of the award and the arbitration agreement, refusing them only on the Convention's grounds. An award is an enforcement order under Law No 22/2018 and, once it bears the enforcement formula, is executed by a bailiff like a judgment. How to choose between a Kigali and a foreign seat, the recognition procedure and the open questions are in Foreign arbitration and enforcing awards. A foreign court judgment, by contrast, needs exequatur from the Commercial High Court (commercial cases) or the High Court (civil cases), which checks public order, finality under the law of the country of origin, authenticity and the rights of defence. Execution of judgments and awards runs through a 30-day voluntary phase, then seizure, valuation and electronic auction, with proceeds paid since May 2026 through a dedicated account; judgments against public bodies must be paid within six months. These are in Enforcing judgments and foreign judgments.

Mediation, conciliation and Abunzi

Rwanda's courts settle a large share of cases without a judgment. Instructions N° 001/2019 of the President of the Supreme Court allow mediation at filing or at the pre-trial conference by the registrar, a judge-mediator or an accredited private mediator, whose mediation may not exceed one month; the settlement becomes a court order bearing the enforcement formula. A conciliation settlement under Law N° 005/2008 is binding and enforceable, and out-of-court mediated agreements are enforcement orders. Abunzi Committees mediate small civil disputes between individuals, but disputes involving companies with legal personality cannot be referred to them. Rwanda signed the Singapore Convention on Mediation on 28 January 2020 but has not ratified it. These routes are in Mediation, conciliation and Abunzi.

Disputes with the State and regulators

Article 13 of Law N° 006/2021 of 05/02/2021 on Investment Promotion and Facilitation sends a dispute between a registered investor and a State organ to amicable settlement, facilitated by RDB, then to the arbitration or procedure agreed in writing, and otherwise to the competent court; it is not a standing consent to international arbitration. Treaty protection comes from Rwanda's bilateral investment treaties in force, with Germany, the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union, the United States, Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, and from the ICSID Convention, to which Rwanda has been party since 14 November 1979; Rwanda won the Bay View Group award in March 2022. These are in Investor-State disputes and treaty protection. Most disputes with the State are regulatory: tax assessments go first to the RRA Commissioner General, procurement decisions to the procuring entity and the Independent Review Panel within seven days, competition decisions to the new Independent Appeal Committee, and other administrative decisions to the superior authority before the courts. These routes are in Regulatory, tax and public-law disputes.

How to use this chapter

Read the chapter in the order a dispute unfolds. When drafting a contract, start with The court system and choice of forum and Arbitration law and KIAC to choose between the Commercial Court, KIAC and a foreign seat, and with Foreign arbitration and enforcing awards if the counterparty's assets are in Rwanda. When a dispute arises, Mediation, conciliation and Abunzi explains the settlement routes the courts will press on the parties, Commercial litigation step by step the court timetable and interim relief, and Enforcing judgments and foreign judgments the collection of what is won. Disputes with the Government or a regulator belong in Investor-State disputes and treaty protection and Regulatory, tax and public-law disputes. Contract drafting more generally is covered in Commercial contracts in Rwanda.

Each section ends with the Be Rwanda Wise FAQs on the subject, the official sources and a question you can put to Rwandabot, the AI legal-information chatbot, about your own facts. The guide states the law at 10 October 2026. Several points are moving: a review of Law N° 005/2008 and of the 2012 KIAC Rules has been reported as expected before 2027, the Ministry of Justice's Strategic Plan 2025-2030 includes an Alternative Dispute Resolution law, draft laws to ratify the Singapore Convention and to amend the court jurisdiction law were reviewed in 2024/25, and KIAC's current fee tables could not be checked against its website. Check the position again before relying on it in 2027, and take advice from a Rwandan advocate on any specific dispute.