Gacaca Court - Official Objectives of The Gacaca Court System

Official Objectives of The Gacaca Court System

The "mission" of this system is to achieve "truth, justice, reconciliation." It aims to promote community healing by making the punishment of perpetrators faster and less expensive to the state.

According to the official Rwandan government website of the National Service of Gacaca Jurisdictions, the "Gacaca Courts" system has the following objectives:

  • The reconstruction of what happened during the genocide
  • The speeding up of the legal proceedings by using as many courts as possible
  • The reconciliation of all Rwandans and building their unity

The Supreme Court has been endowed with a 6th court called "Gacaca Courts Department" in order to co-ordinate and supervise the activities of the various courts without having to interfere with the decisions that they will have to make in order to keep the national as well as the international community informed about the evolution of the Gacaca Courts' activities.

Since 2002, Gacaca Courts Department was replaced by the National Service of Gacaca Courts so as to coordinate the Gacaca Courts activities and speed up this process. (Introd., National Service of Gacaca Jurisdictions)

There are 8,140 Gacaca courts located throughout the country. In 2002, 746 courts were experimentally established as an attempt to speed up procedures, which is currently in a state of stagnation due to lack of support and constant threats to members of the court.

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