Justice Minister and Attorney General Dr Emmanuel Ugirashebuja appearing before the Committee yesterday April 22, 2025.
A new draft law being discussed in Rwanda’s Parliament could bring big changes to how people solve disputes over agreements.
If the bill is passed, you will no longer need a written contract to take someone to court for not respecting an agreement.
The proposed law was presented Tuesday to Parliament’s Committee on Governance, Gender and Social Equity by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Dr. Emmanuel Ugirashebuja.
He explained that many people in Rwanda, especially in daily life and business, make agreements without writing anything down.
The new law would allow courts to accept other types of proof—like messages, witnesses, or actions—to show that an agreement existed.
For example, if two traders agree verbally to exchange goods or services and one of them breaks that promise, the court will still be able to judge the case even if there is no written contract.
The law is also proposing several other important changes. It will help people in situations where someone receives a benefit by mistake or by chance and is expected to return it.
This is common in communities, but until now, the law did not clearly explain how to handle such situations.
Another part of the bill deals with mistakes that cause harm. It separates cases where someone does something wrong on purpose from those where someone causes harm by accident or carelessness.
For instance, if someone digs a hole and doesn’t cover it, and another person falls in and gets injured, the person who dug the hole can still be held responsible—even if they didn’t mean to hurt anyone.
The law will also give clearer rules for things like renting a house, lending items to others, keeping someone’s property safe, or helping someone run their business.
It even introduces new ideas that were not well covered in Rwanda’s older laws—like franchise businesses, where someone operates a business under another company’s brand, or contracts where people pay for services over time.
Minister Ugirashebuja said the goal of the new law is to reflect how people in Rwanda actually live and work today, and to make sure that justice can be done even when agreements are informal or based on trust.
Parliament is expected to continue reviewing the bill in the coming weeks. If it becomes law, it will make it easier for people to defend their rights and hold others accountable in everyday life.
