Commercial litigation step by step: Law No 22/2018 on civil, commercial, labour and administrative procedure, electronic filing and the 19 grounds for refusing a claim, court fees, summons periods, the pre-trial conference and conciliation, the six-month rule, costs, appeals, summary and ex parte relief, asset freezes, commercial seizure and the small-claims procedure

The procedure law and the courts that apply it

Civil and commercial procedure is governed by Law No 22/2018 of 29/04/2018 relating to the civil, commercial, labour and administrative procedure, published in the Official Gazette nº Special of 29/04/2018. It has been amended twice: by Law N° 025/2021 of 12/05/2021 (Official Gazette n° 18 of 17/05/2021), which reformed seizure, bailiffs and electronic auctions, and by Law Nº 007/2023 of 22/01/2024 (Official Gazette n° Special Bis of 08/03/2024), which changed valuation and auction notices and repealed Article 184 on sanctions against public bodies that fail to pay judgments. Court fees are fixed by Ministerial Order N° 17/MOJ/AG/20 of 30/10/2020 determining court fees in civil, commercial, labour, administrative and criminal matters, published in the Official Gazette n° 34 of 02/11/2020; the body of the Order numbers it 18/MOJ/AG/20, and either reference identifies it.

The procedure is the same in the Primary Courts, the Commercial Court and the Commercial High Court, subject to special rules for small claims, summary proceedings and appeals. Which court hears a claim is explained in The court system and choice of forum. The law's design goals are visible throughout: speed (the six-month rule, the two-adjournment limit, fines for delay), settlement (the pre-trial conference and conciliation) and digital process (electronic filing and service on the Integrated Electronic Case Management System, IECMS). Court mediation under the Supreme Court's 2019 Instructions runs alongside and is covered in Mediation, conciliation and Abunzi.

Filing the claim and the registrar's check

The claimant, its counsel or its representative files the claim by submitting written submissions through an approved electronic means, in practice IECMS; paper filing is allowed only with the written approval of the court's chief registrar, and the submissions must then be uploaded once the technical problem ends (Article 20). The submission instituting proceedings must state (Article 23): the court; the claimant's full identity, including identity card number, address down to village, cell, sector and district, e-mail and telephone, and those of its representatives; the respondent's full identity on the same basis; the subject matter and its value in cash where possible, with a brief description of the reasons; matters concerning admissibility; the nature of the claim; the issues the court is asked to examine; each element of the claim with its evidence and legal basis; a brief statement of the relief sought; and a signature or fingerprint. Submissions must be in Ikinyarwanda (Article 69).

Article 21 lists 19 grounds on which the court registrar cannot register a claim. For a business claimant the important ones are: failure to deposit the court fee; a claim outside the court's jurisdiction; failure to give the claimant's full identity and address, or the respondent's full identity and address (or a certificate that the respondent refused to provide them); a claim filed out of time or in breach of the procedural modalities; lack of standing, capacity or interest; a matter that must first be heard by an Abunzi Committee; failure to prove that an amicable settlement required by law was attempted and failed; failure to show that the amicable settlement or arbitration specified in the contract was used; and a matter already resolved by arbitration on the merits. The registrar's refusal must be reasoned, and a dissatisfied party may appeal in writing to the president of the court within five days of notification; the president decides within five days, and that decision is not open to appeal (Article 22).

The court fee is a non-refundable deposit paid on filing, recovered from the losing party: RWF 10,000 in the Primary Court, RWF 20,000 in the Intermediate Court and the Commercial Court, RWF 40,000 in the High Court and the Commercial High Court, RWF 50,000 in the Court of Appeal, and nothing in the Supreme Court. Witness costs are RWF 10,000 a day, RWF 20,000 for a witness away from home, and copies cost RWF 500 a page. The State and persons certified as indigent are exempt. The deposit is low by international standards; the real cost of litigation lies in advocates' fees, translation and time.

Summons and the pre-trial conference

Once the claim is registered, the respondent is summoned. The summons period is eight full working days from service; two months for a person with no known domicile or residence in Rwanda but a known address abroad; and three months where no address is known. Electronic service runs from the day the court sends the summons. On short notice authorised by the court president in urgent cases, the period is at least three days, or 15 days for a respondent abroad or at an unknown address (Articles 49 and 50).

Every case, except summary proceedings, then goes to a pre-trial conference (Article 24). The registrar prepares a draft report setting out the parties, the subject matter, admissibility (fee deposit, jurisdiction, standing and interest, objections raised or foreseeable), the facts not in dispute, the issues, each party's allegations with evidence and legal basis, and points that need clarification or further evidence (Article 25). The draft and documents are sent to the parties, who are invited to attend within 15 days of receiving it. A party that fails to attend without valid reason may be fined on the registrar's request under Article 18, without prejudice to damages (Article 26).

At the conference the registrar, in professional attire, goes through the draft with the parties and their counsel, corrects it, and then asks whether they agree to conciliation (Article 27). The registrar may conciliate, refer the parties to private mediators, or ask the court president to designate a judge-mediator (Article 28); a party should attend in person or through an attorney with power to settle. If the parties settle, the registrar prepares a decision of conciliation, signed by the registrar and the court president, which is not subject to appeal and is immediately given the enforcement formula (Article 29). Partial settlement narrows the trial to the remaining issues (Article 30). Pre-trial settlement is common: the Ministry of Justice's ADR Strategic Plan 2025-2030 reports that, of 12,246 cases resolved by mediation, 1,445 were settled at registrar pre-trials and 950 by judges. If no settlement is reached, the registrar fixes the hearing date and its duration with the parties.

Hearing, time limits and sanctions for delay

Article 16 states that any case referred to the court must be decided within six months from the date the claim is referred to the court, and hearing dates are set in order of registration, except for urgent claims. The rule is mandatory wording, not a target, although complex cases may in practice take longer. Adjournment for reasons specific to the parties requires the court's approval for unforeseen and special reasons and cannot occur more than twice; after that the case is heard or struck out if no party appears (Article 17).

A party that intentionally delays the hearing or uses remedies as a delaying tactic is liable to a civil fine of RWF 20,000 to RWF 200,000; if the delay is caused by counsel or another representative, the fine is RWF 200,000 to RWF 500,000 and is personal to that person; and the same fine applies to anyone who obstructs an investigation ordered by the court (Article 18). Hearings are public unless the court orders an in-camera hearing to protect public order, morals or privacy (Article 70), and recording in court without authorisation is sanctioned by a fine of RWF 200,000 to RWF 500,000 (Article 71). Instructions No 002/2024 of 31/10/2024 allow any hearing to be held virtually, and the court president decides a request within 48 hours.

Representation is flexible below the Court of Appeal: a company may appear through its legal representative or any person it mandates in writing, and individuals through an advocate or a relative up to the fourth degree, but no party may appear before the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court without an advocate (Article 85).

Judgment, costs and appeal

Costs in Rwandan litigation have two parts. The court fee deposit and witness and copy costs are refunded by the losing party. Advocates' fees and other litigation expenses are claimed as representation fees, an incidental claim decided at the same time as the principal claim, and admissible even if the principal claim fails (Article 111). Courts award them on evidence and in their discretion: in Gahiga v Fortis (Supreme Court, 21 February 2014) the Court fixed an amount in its discretion where the sums claimed were not proven, and in the first-instance judgment in the Mukeramirimo Construction case the court awarded RWF 580,000 to each party for procedural and lawyer fees. Awards of this order rarely cover an international party's actual legal spend, which should be priced into the decision to litigate.

An appeal lies within one month from the day the party learns of the judgment; a party present at the close of hearings is treated as informed of the pronouncement, and for a respondent of unknown address the period runs from public notification (Article 148). The appeal is filed in the same way as a claim, before the appellate court (Article 149). During the appeal period and while an appeal is pending, execution is suspended unless the court ordered provisional execution (Article 159), so a claimant facing an insolvent or evasive debtor should ask for provisional execution in its claim and use the interim remedies below. Second appeals and review for injustice are limited, as explained in The court system and choice of forum. A final judgment, a conciliation decision and a summary order are enforcement orders executed by bailiffs once they bear the enforcement formula (Articles 241 and 242; Enforcing judgments and foreign judgments).

Urgent and protective remedies

Where an interim ruling is needed urgently, a summary procedure (référé) claim is filed in the ordinary way before the urgent applications judge of the place where the measure is required (Article 185). The summons period is at least four working days from registration, or 15 days if the respondent is neither domiciled nor resident in Rwanda; the hearing is public and adversarial; and the judge's order, which does not prejudge the merits, is delivered within 48 hours of the close of the hearing (Article 186). The order is provisionally enforceable notwithstanding opposition or appeal and without security (Article 187). Opposition lies within five working days and an appeal within three working days, decided within three days, and only once (Article 188).

An ex parte application (requête unilatérale) is available for provisional measures and seizure and other very urgent matters that do not require a principal claim and appear uncontroversial (Article 189). The judge examines it, summons the applicant and anyone else who should be heard, and must hear them within two days of filing (Article 190); the order is provisionally enforceable without security unless the judge decides otherwise (Article 191).

Three protective tools are specific to Rwandan law. Under Articles 212 to 214, a creditor whose debt is due and certain, or who fears the debtor is hiding assets, may ask the court through the summary procedure to place the debtor's property under surety, or to order a sum equal to the claim to be secured, until final judgment or settlement; property under surety stays with the owner but cannot be sold, lent, donated or given as security, and immovable property is notified to the Registrar of Land Titles. Under Article 213, any creditor may ask the Registrar of Land Titles or the land officer of the sector or district to block any transfer of the debtor's land, but the block lapses if the creditor does not sue for payment within one month. Under Article 232, the holder of a bill of exchange, a promissory note or an unpaid cheque, or a creditor under a commercial transaction, may ask a bailiff to carry out a commercial seizure after the bailiff checks the documents, provided the creditor files a claim to confirm the debt within 48 hours of the seizure. Article 11 of Law N° 005/2008 lets a party to an arbitration seek the same court measures (Arbitration law and KIAC; FAQ 79).

The small-claims procedure

Articles 196 to 211 create a fast track for a claim whose main subject matter is worth no more than RWF 5,000,000, excluding interest and procedural fees. It applies only if the claimant opts for it (Article 197). The Primary Court hears civil claims outside the Abunzi Committees' jurisdiction and commercial cases within the limit (Article 201), claims to recover assets lost through listed offences such as theft, fraud and breach of trust, regardless of any criminal case (Article 202), and claims for payment of bounced cheques and other negotiable instruments up to RWF 5,000,000 (Article 203).

The fee deposit is RWF 10,000 (Article 205) and the procedural fees awarded may not exceed 5% of the claim (Article 200); no moral damages are awarded (Article 199). The respondent replies within 15 days and may propose a written payment plan for principal, interest and fees; if the claimant accepts, the court issues an order enforcing the plan within 24 hours (Article 206). Otherwise there is no pre-trial conference and the hearing takes place within five working days after the reply deadline (Article 207). Parties may plead in person or through anyone with a power of attorney, and a party that uses an advocate bears the cost itself (Article 208). The judge questions the parties, seeks agreement, and records in the judgment an execution plan, deadlines and the order in which the loser's assets will be auctioned if the plan is not respected; execution is due within 30 days unless the parties agree otherwise (Articles 209 and 210). The judgment is not subject to appeal (Article 211).

A Commercial Court case from filing to final judgment

1. Pre-actionComplete any negotiation, mediation or other amicable step the contract requires and keep proof; check that no arbitration clause applies; consider a land-transfer block (sue within one month) or commercial seizure (sue within 48 hours).
2. File on IECMSFile submissions in Ikinyarwanda with the Article 23 particulars and evidence, and pay the RWF 20,000 deposit; request provisional execution if needed. A refusal to register can be challenged before the court president within five days.
3. SummonsEight working days for a respondent in Rwanda, two months for one with a known address abroad; electronic service runs from dispatch.
4. Pre-trial conferenceReceive the registrar's draft report and attend within 15 days; correct the issues list; decide whether to conciliate. A conciliation decision is final and enforceable at once.
5. HearingPublic, in person or virtual; at most two party adjournments; delaying tactics fined. The case must be decided within six months of referral.
6. Judgment and costsThe court decides the claim and the incidental claim for representation fees; the loser refunds the deposit.
7. AppealWithin one month to the Commercial High Court (deposit RWF 40,000); execution is suspended unless provisional execution was ordered.
8. EnforcementThe final judgment receives the enforcement formula and is executed through a professional bailiff, starting with a 30-day voluntary phase.