The announcement was made on September 4, 2026, in Kigali during the official closing of the 2025/2026 judicial year and the launch of the 2026/2027 judicial year.
The ceremony brought together judges and other stakeholders from across the justice sector, including officials from the Ministry of Justice. The previous judicial year officially ended on June 30, 2026.
Chief Justice Mukantaganzwa said Rwanda’s courts began the 2025/2026 judicial year with a backlog of 54,278 cases carried over from the previous year.
During the year, courts received 109,417 new cases, bringing the total number of cases requiring consideration to 163,695.
Of these, 123,027 cases were concluded, leaving 40,668 unresolved cases to be carried forward into the new judicial year.
This represents a 25.1% reduction in the case backlog, which fell from more than 54,000 cases during the 2024/2025 judicial year to just over 40,000 cases at the end of 2025/2026.
Of the cases concluded during the year, 109,555, representing 89%, were heard on their merits. Meanwhile, 13,472 cases, representing 11%, concerned decisions on pretrial detention and provisional release.
The 13,472 cases involving detention and provisional release concerned 17,086 people. Of these, 9,093 people, or 58%, were ordered into provisional detention.
Another 4,294 people, representing 25%, were granted provisional release, while 2,889 people, or 17%, were subjected to alternative measures and conditions.
Restorative justice was identified as one of the key approaches that helped improve the performance of the judiciary during the year.
Mukantaganzwa said the justice sector had made strengthening restorative justice a priority, resulting in a significant increase in the number of cases resolved through this approach.
“We are pleased that the number of cases resolved through this approach reached 19,888, up from 15,012 in the previous year, representing an increase of 4,876 cases or 32.4%,” she said.
She noted that the increase reflects progress in ensuring timely and accessible justice, while also helping reduce pressure on the courts.
The number of cases that had remained unresolved for more than six months also declined. During the 2025/2026 judicial year, there were 17,663 such cases, compared with 26,862 during the previous year.
The average time a case remained pending also dropped from six months in 2024/2025 to four months during the judicial year that has just ended.
However, Mukantaganzwa acknowledged that case backlogs remain a challenge and said efforts would continue to further reduce the number of unresolved cases.
“Our objective is to continue reducing the backlog so that it does not exceed 30% by 2028/2029,” she said.
She noted that some courts, particularly higher courts and courts operating in the City of Kigali, continue to handle large numbers of cases, affecting the time litigants spend waiting for their cases to be heard.
Judges were also encouraged to ensure consistency when deciding similar cases. According to Mukantaganzwa, consistent judgments can help reduce the time spent handling cases and discourage unnecessary litigation when potential litigants can clearly understand how similar cases have previously been decided.
