Legal officers attached to Rwanda's government departments say that only placing them under direct employment of the Ministry of Justice will give them the security and courage to save the government from lawsuits as a result of wrong decisions by senior officers.

Reacting to a new proposal by the Ministry of Justice that would require them to put on record their objections to decisions by their superiors that they consider illegal, the legal officers said they feared a breakdown in the working relationship with their bosses.

In a quarterly meeting held early December, the Ministry of Justice recommended that government legal officers should be giving legal opinions whenever they deem necessary even when they are not requested to by their superior.

“You should provide written legal opinions to your superiors to keep evidence even when they did not seek them from you, prepare proper job contracts, public tenders and if you come across any challenge do not hesitate to seek advice from the Ministry of Justice,” said Evode Uwizeyimana, the State Minister for Constitutional and Legal affairs.

A report presented by Isabelle Kalihangabo, the Permanent Secretary and Solicitor General showed that the government was involved in 515 cases in fiscal 2015/2016.

Apart from 131 cases that are yet to be decided, of all 384 decided cases the government won 285 approximately 76 per cent and lost 99 (24 per cent).

“It is observed that the winning rate has increased, however, we still have a long way to go in order to reach the target of “zero litigation,” Ms Kalihangabo said.  

READ: Rwandan courts order govt to pay Rwf164m for lost suits

Zero litigation

The “zero litigation” target however is up against persistent reports of leaders in government institutions who do not involve legal officers in decision making and only inform them when there are pending lawsuits.

Some others, according to the Ministry of Justice, seek legal opinions before taking decisions but often ignore them and take contrary decisions resulting in upsurge of court cases against the state involving millions of taxpayers’ money.

With the new proposed approach of documenting every legal opinion the government expects reduction in cases it defends, anticipating that leaders will follow provided legal opinions for fear of suffering personal liability.

The suggested method was however received with scepticism by some legal officers, raising worries that it might pit them against their bosses.

“The idea is good and as predicted by the ministry it would cover the legal officers in terms of keeping evidence. However, it is likely to put us in a vulnerable position since our direct bosses will start seeing us as opponents” said a legal officer who did not want to be named.

For fear of repercussion, the official and his peers who spoke to Rwanda Today on conditions of anonymity called for special arrangement that would “give them more independence.”

According to them, government lawyers can only work independently and without risks of dismissal if their current attachment was changed and be posted in different government institutions as employees of the Ministry of Justice.

For some analysts this sounds a good idea though its implementation would necessitate changes in the structure of government job positions.

“Commenting as somebody who has ever been a legal officer in a government institution, I believe this would help much in ensuring independence of the officers who would be providing well motivated legal opinions without fear of repercussion.” Said Pie Habimana, a university law lecturer.

Other dons have however looked at this proposal with scepticism saying it is likely to worsen the relationship between legal officers and their bosses with this officers being regarded as outsiders instead of stakeholders.

“I think this problem can only be resolved by a change of mindset by the legal officers themselves,” observed Innocent Musonera, an administrative law professor.
According to him, government lawyers need to hold firm on their opinions and document whatever advice they provide regardless of whether their bosses follow it or not.