Nestor Kayobera of EACJ praises the Court’s performance despite budgetary constraints

Nestor Kayobera, the Judge President of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), confidently highlighted the Court’s remarkable performance, despite grappling with significant challenges, particularly budgetary constraints. He was speaking at a press conference ahead of the 3rd annual EACJ judicial conference and the rotational court sitting in Kigali- Rwanda between February 18 and March 8, 2025.

The East African Court of Justice, is one of the organs of the East African Community. It was established in 2001.

“In 23 years of operations, we have received over 860 cases. As we are speaking, we have 250 cases which are still pending, and the issue is that judges are not permanent there. They are serving on ad hoc except the president and the principal judge who are permanent in Arusha. Among other challenges include the budgetary constraints and the late disbursement of partner states. Sometimes we postpone our sessions because of the lack of funds”, Nestor said.

However, he insists that the performance of the court is positive and all the challenges can be resolved.

“To me, the performance of the court is positive because the partner states are implementing its judgements. It would be surprising if we render the judgements which are not implemented. So, we can say the performance of the court is positive but the challenges are always there, and can be resolved”, Nestor emphasized.

The third annual conference of the EACJ will be held under the theme: Justice, Ethics, and Enforcement of Decisions: A Judicial pathway for Regional Development. It will be attended by more than 250 people from all over the world, including lawyers from all partner states, the ministers, attorney generals, legal practitioners, judges among others.

After the two days’ conference, a strategic plan meeting will be organized to adopt and validate the strategic plan of the court from 20- 22th February, 2025.

The court sessions from the 24th February to the 7th March will follow. Almost ten cases with the first division and nine cases from Appellate will be handled. Judges will participate in a training session on cyber criminality, of judges 10 -12th March2025.

According to Harrison Mutabazi, the Spokesperson of the Judiciary of Rwanda, the participants, especially Rwandans will benefit from skills exchanges.

The Court’s mandate is to ensure the adherence to law in the interpretation and application of the EAC Treaty, Principal Judge, Yohane B. Masara, explained. It is made up Appellate Division and First Instance Division. Each division sits on a quarterly basis. The Judges of the Court are appointed by the EAC Summit of the Heads of State or Government upon the recommendation of the Partner States.