The Judiciary of Rwanda

Dr. Faustin NTEZILYAYO, the Chief Justice

Faustin Ntezilyayo holds a PhD in law from Antwerp University (1994, Belgium), a Master’s in Fiscal Law from Free University of Brussels (1996, Belgium), and an M.A. in international affairs with specialization in international trade policy from Carleton University (2009, Canada), and an LLB from the National University of Rwanda (1986). He has also followed various professional trainings in areas such as arbitration and alternative dispute resolution; corporate governance; negotiations of financial transactions; legal aspects of public debt management; financial regulation; regulation of telecommunications services, among others. With more than 31 years of professional experience, Dr Ntezilyayo has served in various positions within the Government of Rwanda including as Minister of Justice, Vice Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, Managing Director of the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency, Senior Legal Advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Rwanda).

Dr Ntezilyayo has been a consultant with good expertise in legal and regulatory business reforms; trade and investment policy and law; trade facilitation and trade-related capacity building; trade and investment-related dispute settlement; and rule of law and corporate governance. In addition, he has a very good teaching and research experience.

He has taught in various universities and institutions of higher learning in Rwanda, the United States of America and Canada. His areas of teaching and research are, among others, international economic law, international law of foreign investment, international trade law (especially trade in services), international development law, international financial law, and economic and corporate governance. Until April 2013, Dr. Ntezilyayo was Managing Director of AGASEKE BANK LTD and his main task was to implement a strategic plan aimed at ultimately transforming that microfinance bank into a fully-fledged commercial bank.

Dr Faustin Ntezilyayo is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb); a Member of the Panel of Arbitrators of the Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC); a Member of the Panel of Conciliators of the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID); and a Member of the East African Magistrates and Judges’ Association (EAMJA)

From June 2013 to March 2020, Dr. Faustin NTEZILYAYO was a Judge of the East African Court of Justice. He is a Senior Visiting Lecturer at the University of Rwanda, School of Law. Dr. Faustin NTEZILYAYO was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Rwanda on 6th December 2019.