The court system and choice of forum: Law N° 30/2018 on court jurisdiction, the RWF 5 million commercial limit of the Primary Courts, the Commercial Court and Commercial High Court in Kigali, appeals and review for injustice, suing foreign parties, foreign-court clauses, the Ikinyarwanda rule, and choosing between the courts and arbitration

The legal framework and the structure of the courts

The jurisdiction of Rwanda's courts is set by Law N° 30/2018 of 02/06/2018 determining the jurisdiction of courts, published in the Official Gazette n° Special of 02/06/2018. It has been amended once, by Law N° 041/2024 of 19/04/2024, which changed only Article 47 on the High Court's jurisdiction in administrative and refugee matters. Procedure in civil, commercial, labour and administrative cases is governed by Law No 22/2018 of 29/04/2018 relating to the civil, commercial, labour and administrative procedure, as amended by Law N° 025/2021 of 12/05/2021 and Law Nº 007/2023 of 22/01/2024 (Commercial litigation step by step). The Gazette texts are trilingual, in Kinyarwanda, English and French, and it is worth comparing the versions where the English text is unclear.

The Judiciary describes a pyramid of ordinary courts. At the base are 41 Primary Courts; above them 12 Intermediate Courts, which also house specialised chambers for labour, administrative and family matters; then the High Court, with chambers at Musanze, Nyanza, Rwamagana and Rusizi and a specialised chamber; then the Court of Appeal and, at the apex, the Supreme Court. Alongside this hierarchy sit two specialised commercial courts, the Commercial Court and the Commercial High Court, and the military courts. With the Court of Appeal in place, the Supreme Court does not hear ordinary commercial appeals: its role in business cases is to review final judgments vitiated by injustice.

Every business that may litigate in Rwanda meets two other institutions first. The court registrar checks admissibility and runs the compulsory pre-trial conference, and the Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS, iecms.gov.rw) carries claims, submissions, summonses and judgments. Small civil disputes between individuals go first to the Abunzi mediation committees, but Article 11 of Law No 37/2016 of 08/09/2016 on the Abunzi Committee provides that disputes involving the State or companies with legal personality may in no way be referred to them, so a company's commercial claims start in the courts or in arbitration (Mediation, conciliation and Abunzi).

Which court hears a commercial claim

The first question is the amount. Article 27(4) of Law N° 30/2018 gives the Primary Courts all commercial matters involving amounts of not more than RWF 5,000,000. In those cases the claimant may opt for the small-claims procedure of Articles 196 to 211 of Law No 22/2018, with a fee deposit of RWF 10,000, procedural fees capped at 5% of the claim and no appeal. The Primary Courts also hear civil disputes between individuals and non-governmental entities worth up to RWF 20,000,000 (Article 27(1)), so the distinction between a commercial and a civil claim decides which ceiling applies.

Above RWF 5,000,000, Article 81 gives the Commercial Court first-instance jurisdiction over all commercial, financial and fiscal cases and related matters. The list is wide: disputes arising from commercial contracts or activities between individuals or business entities; negotiable instruments; contracts between individuals and financial institutions; liquidation, dissolution and recovery of businesses in difficulty and bankruptcy; insurance, except accident compensation claimed by third parties; taxes and duties, including East African Community customs cases; transport of persons and goods; disputes among the directors, auditors, liquidators and administrators of registered companies; intellectual property, including trade marks and trade names; registration and deregistration in commercial registers; appointment and dismissal of auditors; competition and consumer protection; business issues in cooperatives; administrative contracts on business and financial affairs between public organs and the private sector; and cases related to public tenders.

The Commercial High Court hears appeals from the Commercial Court (Article 82, last paragraph) and has three first-instance functions that matter to foreign investors: it hears applications to execute in Rwanda decisions and judgments of foreign courts in commercial, financial and fiscal cases, and foreign authentic deeds; and it examines the legality of awards rendered by arbitrators, with no appeal from its judgment on that question (Article 82, paragraphs 4 and 5). Article 92 seats both commercial courts in the City of Kigali with jurisdiction over the entire national territory. Some older guides list Commercial Court branches outside Kigali; the law as it stands provides for a single Commercial Court in Kigali, and remote participation is available through virtual hearings.

Disputes that look commercial may belong elsewhere. Individual and collective employment disputes go to the labour chamber of the Intermediate Court (Article 35; Workplace rules, unions and labour disputes). Civil cases outside the jurisdiction of other courts go to the Intermediate Court at first instance (Article 31). Challenges to administrative decisions follow the administrative route, with the High Court annulling acts of the President, Ministers and other authorities under Article 47 as amended in 2024 (Regulatory, tax and public-law disputes).

Appeals, second appeals and review for injustice

An ordinary appeal must be lodged within one month from the day the party learns of the judgment, and a party present when the hearing closed is treated as informed of the pronouncement (Article 148 of Law No 22/2018). The appeal suspends execution unless the court ordered provisional execution (Article 159). A commercial case decided by the Commercial Court therefore usually ends in the Commercial High Court. Where the Commercial High Court decided at first instance, for example on the exequatur of a foreign judgment, the appeal lies to the Court of Appeal (Article 52 of Law N° 30/2018).

A second appeal to the Court of Appeal against a judgment the High Court or Commercial High Court gave on appeal is admissible only if the case falls within one of the grounds in Article 52: an impact on national security; penalties not provided by law; a decision based on a non-existent or repealed law or given by a court lacking jurisdiction; reliance on evidence or submissions produced after the hearing closed without reopening; a bench without the required number of judges; pronouncement by a judge who did not hear the case; a hearing held in private without an in-camera order; or an award of damages of at least RWF 75,000,000, or a dispute of that value determined by an expert where it was not fixed earlier. The appeal is not admissible where the appellant lost in both courts for the same reasons. It needs the approval of the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, and a refusal may be challenged before the President of the Court of Appeal within five days. Judgments of the Court of Appeal are not appealable.

Beyond appeals lies review for injustice under Articles 53 to 58. The Supreme Court reviews final judgments vitiated by injustice, on the approval of its President, who may instead assign the review to another higher court. The grounds are limited (Article 55): unequivocal evidence of corruption, favouritism or nepotism that affected the judgment and was unknown to the losing party; blatant disregard of legal provisions or evidence; or a judgment that cannot be executed as decided. A party that let ordinary remedies lapse cannot use the route, except where the Inspectorate-General of Courts identified the injustice. The reasoned application is filed within 30 days of notification of the judgment, and the applicant is entitled to a response within three months (Articles 56 and 57). A party files it with the president of the court immediately above the court that decided the case at last instance, who informs the President of the Supreme Court if injustice is found; an application against a judgment of the Court of Appeal goes directly to the President of the Supreme Court, whose decision on it is final (Articles 58 and 59). Applications may be made by the Office of the Ombudsman at a party's request, by the president of a court that identified injustice, by a party dissatisfied with a judgment of the Court of Appeal, and by the Inspector General of Courts (Article 54). A judgment reviewed for injustice cannot be appealed again.

Counsel is optional in the lower courts, where a company may appear through its legal representative or a person it has mandated in writing, but no party may appear before the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court without the assistance of an advocate (Article 85 of Law No 22/2018). Advocates from foreign Bar Associations may practise where their national law provides for reciprocity, subject to international agreements and with the authorisation of the President of the Rwanda Bar Association, and advocates from states that have concluded a regional integration agreement with Rwanda may practise as that agreement provides (Article 7 of Law N°83/2013 of 11/09/2013 establishing the Bar Association in Rwanda).

Suing and being sued as a foreign party

The ordinary rule is that the court of the defendant's domicile, residence or elected domicile has jurisdiction (Article 13 of Law N° 30/2018). Article 14 extends the reach of Rwandan courts over foreign nationals, including foreign companies, where: they agreed to be tried in Rwanda; the contract on which the claim is based was concluded, executed or must be executed in Rwanda; the case concerns a succession opened in Rwanda; the claim seeks to validate or lift a seizure made in Rwanda or any other interim or conservatory measure; the claim is connected with a case already pending in Rwanda; execution is sought in Rwanda of foreign judgments or authentic instruments; the case concerns a bankruptcy opened in Rwanda caused by dishonest management; or one of several defendants is domiciled or resident in Rwanda. In KCB Bank Uganda v Kiiza and Louise (Supreme Court, 19 January 2018) the Supreme Court applied Article 14 to contracts made abroad.

A foreign defendant is given more time. A summons served on a person with no known domicile or residence in Rwanda but a known address abroad lasts two months, and three months where no address is known; a person resident abroad but served in person in Rwanda must appear within the ordinary eight working days (Article 49 of Law No 22/2018). Electronic service runs from the day the court sends the summons. A Rwandan judgment against a defendant with no assets in Rwanda will need recognition abroad. For a foreign investor operating through a Rwandan subsidiary, the subsidiary is a Rwandan company and is sued in Rwanda like any other (Choosing a business vehicle).

Foreign-court clauses and governing law

No Rwandan statute sets out the effect of a clause giving exclusive jurisdiction to a foreign court, and the Supreme Court has treated such clauses with caution. In Great Lakes Cement v Damco Tanzania (Supreme Court, RCOMA0162/12/CS, 12 June 2015) an exclusive London jurisdiction clause was not given effect: the parties had not shown that the London court was competent and convenient, given the costs and the value of the claim. A foreign-court clause should therefore be assumed not to stop a Rwandan counterparty from suing in Rwanda, and a foreign judgment obtained under it will in any event need exequatur in Rwanda before it can be enforced against Rwandan assets, a procedure the Commercial High Court applies by checking public order, finality, authenticity and the rights of defence (Enforcing judgments and foreign judgments).

Practitioner commentary confirms that commercial parties may choose the governing law of their contract, subject to public policy and mandatory Rwandan rules on matters such as land, employment, tax, currency, competition and consumer protection (Commercial contracts in Rwanda). Before an arbitral tribunal the position is statutory: the tribunal applies the rules of law chosen by the parties and, failing a choice, Rwandan law and the international conventions ratified by Rwanda (Article 40 of Law N° 005/2008 of 14/02/2008 on arbitration and conciliation in commercial matters).

Language, electronic filing and virtual hearings

Article 69 of Law No 22/2018 provides that the language of the court is Ikinyarwanda. The court may conduct the hearing in another official language of Rwanda, English or French, and a party may plead in another language it understands well if it brings its own interpreter at its own expense, but "in any case, the submissions to be filed to the court are in Ikinyarwanda". A foreign party should therefore budget for certified translation of its claim, defence and key documents, and should expect the judgment in Ikinyarwanda. Whether a court will in practice accept English submissions is a matter for the court, and the statute should be followed.

Claims are filed by the claimant, its counsel or its representative through an approved electronic means; paper filing needs the written approval of the court's chief registrar, and the paper filer must upload the submissions once the electronic problem ends (Article 20). Instructions No 002/2024 of 31/10/2024 of the President of the Supreme Court governing virtual hearings, published on 31 October 2024, allow virtual hearings in all courts and all matters; the court president decides a request within 48 hours, which lets a foreign party's witnesses and officers take part without travelling. Hearings are public unless the court orders an in-camera hearing to protect public order, morals or privacy (Article 70), and unauthorised audio or video recording in court is sanctioned by a fine of RWF 200,000 to RWF 500,000 (Article 71). Commercial confidentiality is therefore an argument for arbitration rather than litigation.

Courts and arbitration: referral, waiver and pre-action steps

Rwandan courts support arbitration agreements. Under Article 10 of Law N° 005/2008, a court seized of an action covered by an arbitration agreement must refer the parties to arbitration if a party asks before submitting its statements on the substance, unless the agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed; the arbitration may start or continue while the issue is pending. The court registrar must refuse to register a claim where the claimant has not shown that it used the amicable settlement or arbitration specified in the contract, or where the matter has already been resolved by arbitration on the merits (Article 21(18) and (19) of Law No 22/2018), and a refusal can be challenged before the court president within five days (Article 22). In Cheon Kwang v Government of Rwanda (Supreme Court, 30 June 2017) a contractual pre-arbitration step was enforced.

The right to arbitrate can be lost. In Mukeramirimo Construction v Quality Construction (Court of Appeal, RCOMAA 00107/2022/CA, 25 May 2023) a party that litigated without objecting to the court's jurisdiction was held to have waived the arbitration agreement; the objection must be raised at the start, before any defence on the merits. Courts also act alongside arbitration: Article 11 of Law N° 005/2008 lets a party ask the court for interim measures before or during the arbitration, as the Commercial High Court did in KZ Noir v Kubwimana (2014), and the Commercial High Court examines the legality of awards (Arbitration law and KIAC). A claim to compel a public authority to execute an award was held to belong to the Commercial Court in ERJB v Uwamariya (14 December 2021).

Choosing the forum

For a contract with a Rwandan counterparty whose assets are in Rwanda, the realistic choice is between the Commercial Court, arbitration seated in Kigali (usually at KIAC) and arbitration seated abroad. The Commercial Court is cheap to start, with a filing deposit of RWF 20,000, bound by a six-month decision rule and two-adjournment limit, and gives access to fast interim relief; but proceedings are public, submissions must be in Ikinyarwanda, and the losing party usually has an appeal. Kigali arbitration allows English, a chosen tribunal and confidentiality under the KIAC Rules, and the award can be challenged only once, before the Commercial High Court within 30 days, with no further appeal; but the parties pay the tribunal and KIAC. A foreign seat gives neutrality and a supervisory court the parties know, and the award is enforceable in Rwanda under the New York Convention, but costs are higher and recognition in Rwanda adds a step (Foreign arbitration and enforcing awards).

Two constraints narrow the choice. A Government counterparty may agree only to KIAC arbitration and not to ad hoc arbitration, under Article 14 of Ministerial Instructions No 612/08.11 of 16/04/2014 on Government contracts (Investment guarantees, treaties and reporting). And an exclusive foreign-court clause offers little protection for the reasons above. For claims below RWF 5,000,000 the Primary Court's small-claims procedure is usually the most economical route. Interim relief before a court and the time a case takes are discussed in Commercial litigation step by step and in FAQ 79.