The Supreme Court has ruled to allow Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) to continue searching persons, buildings and premises without court warrants if investigators believe that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a crime is being committed there.
The ruling was in response to a petition filed by city lawyer Edward Murangwa challenging the constitutionality of several portions of the 2017 law establishing RIB and determining its mission, powers, organisation and functioning.
In particular, part of Murangwa's argument was against the 10th article of the law which allow investigators to "search any person or property, enter premises without a warrant" if there are reasonable grounds for suspicion that a criminal act is being committed or is to be committed there, or reasonable grounds suggesting that the premises are housing a criminal suspect or an object used in committing a crime.
He said such provisions contravene several articles of the constitution including the 13th one which says that a person is sacred and inviolable and that the state has the obligation to have respect for, protect and defend the person.
Building on that, Murangwa pointed out that it is not proper for RIB, which is part of the executive branch of government, to enter and search people's premises without first getting authorisation from the judiciary, which is in charge of human rights.
He underscored that conducting investigative searches without a judicial warrant violates Article 43 of the Constitution, which stipulates, "The Judiciary is the guardian of human rights and freedoms, exercised in accordance with this Constitution and other laws."
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During one of the previous sessions, attorneys representing the government, Spéciose Kabibi and Petronille Kayitesi, argued that while government branches are independent, they work in cooperation with mutual trust and complement each other.
They cited examples from other countries where search warrants are often seen as formalities, with judges occasionally providing investigators with blank documents to fill in the operation's details.
In a ruling issued regarding the case, the Supreme Court said Murangwa's case did not have grounds, noting that the judges did not find the law establishing RIB to be in contravention of the constitution.
Murangwa had also asked the court to examine whether there is a need to provide guidelines on the "reasonable grounds" that make premises to be considered for search operations without a court warrant but the judges also ruled that the court does not need to examine that.
