Overview

ABOUT ILPD

ILPD Background

The establishment of Institute of Legal Practice and Development was part of the implementation of the judicial reforms that the Government of Rwanda embarked on in 2004. To meet the demand for a legal workforce with enhanced skills, ILPD was assigned the task of providing the relevant training.

The Institute is also located in Nyanza District, Southern Province. ILPD is more than eight years old, with many hundreds of lawyers, judges and prosecutors have attended its courses. It runs two major postgraduate Diplomas; on Legal practice (DLP) for judges, prosecutors and lawyers, and on Legislative Drafting (DLD) for government lawyers and others responsible for drafting.

ILPD also runs a wide range of continuing legal education (CLE) courses to ensure that all legal professionals are kept up to date and have opportunities to refresh and develop their skills. These courses are taught by ILPD’s external faculty of trainers who are experienced legal professionals, and by international trainers.

ILPD is now attracting African continent attention with its innovative approaches to training and reputation for effective, high quality courses. Students from other countries are now discovering and attending its courses and ILPD aspires to meet the needs of legal professionals throughout Africa.

ILPD’s objective is to become an ‘‘IHURIRO’’, i.e. a meeting place for legal professionals from Rwanda, the region, and Africa, as well as the rest of the world. ILPD is active in organizations that link the East African judicial training institutes. It is also a member of the International Organization for Judicial Training (IOJT), a global body linking judicial training institutes around the world.

ILPD is also a meeting place where different branches of the legal profession, different legal traditions (Common law, Civilian and traditional) can meet and learn from each other.

Establishment

The Institute of Legal Practice and Development(ILPD) was established by the Law No. 65/2013 of 27/08/2013 Establishing ILPD, and was assigned to provide legal professional education to persons holding at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Law, provide training to those working in the field of justice and in related fields, promote research and disseminate law, collaborate with other institutions of learning and research in Rwanda and abroad, and support any other initiative that may contribute to the promotion of law and justice.

Vision

The vision of the institute is to “become a practical school for all legal professionals in a spirit of excellence, independence and service to the community, drawing from the diversity and richness of the civil and common law traditions”.

Mission

The mission of the institute is:

a) To contribute to the development of justice in Rwanda and the region through:

Offering initial professional training to persons holding bachelor’s degree in law; in particular by offering post graduate program to judges, prosecutors, lawyers, bailiffs, notaries, etc, to bring their quality to international standards.

Offering continuing legal education in order to improve knowledge and skills for other personnel in the justice sector, in particular by offering training to clerks, criminal investigating officers, mediators and all other personnel dealing with legal matters in different ministries and institutions, public as well as private.

b) To conduct legal research;

c) To contribute to the development and dissemination of the law.

ILPD MANAGEMENT

Dr Aimé Muyoboke Karimunda

Rector

Justice Dr Aimé Muyoboke Karimunda is the Rector of ILPD from 20 October 2023. Until then he was a Judge of the Supreme Court and Vice President of the Mediation Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Global Judicial Network Integrity, a member of the Advisory Board of the Rwanda Law Journal, and a member of the Judicial Education Committee. He is also a visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Rwanda. He is a Certified Mediator with a PhD in International Criminal & Human Rights Law. He was the President of the Court of Appeal and Vice President of Rwanda High Judicial Council until April 2021. He was also the Secretary of Publicity of the East African Judges and Magistrates Association, Advisor to the Deputy Chief Justice, member of the Committee of Experts on the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), Dean of the School of Law at the Kigali Independent University and Advisor of the Minister of Health. He has published books and articles on domestic and international criminal law. He recently wrote in Jean François Boudet (eds), Justice Française et génocide des Tutsi au Rwanda, Paris, L'Harmattan, 2021.