BERNADETTE UWICYEZA

Senior Fellow – Rwanda

Bernadette Uwicyeza is an ADR Advisor to the Judiciary of Rwanda, responsible for the design and implementation of a court-annexed mediation system in the Rwandan court system.

About Bernadette Uwicyeza

Bernadette Uwicyeza is an ADR Advisor to the Judiciary of Rwanda, responsible for the design and implementation of a court-annexed mediation system in the Rwandan court system. She has worked with the Justice Sector institutions in Rwanda, providing institutional support since 2006.

Ms. Uwicyeza began her ADR journey in 2006, when she led the legal component of a World Bank project supporting investment climate reforms under the Ministry of Justice of Rwanda. As part of the project, she was involved in the promotion of ADR that prepared the ground for the creation of the Kigali International Arbitration Centre.

Ms. Uwicyeza was appointed first Secretary-General of the Kigali International Arbitration Centre in 2012. In 2015, she stepped down from her managerial responsibilities at the Centre to focus on mediation practice development in Rwanda.

ADR Achievements and Training

While working with the World Bank project (Competitiveness and Enterprise Development project) from 2006 to 2011, Ms. Uwicyeza was at the heart of an ADR Centre initiative that led to the creation of Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC) which, along with other activities, was charged with advising the government in ADR matters.
From 2012 to 2015, Ms. Uwicyeza led the operationalization and strategic development of KIAC, which is now the headquarters of the African Arbitration Association.
In 2016, Ms. Uwicyeza was awarded a JAMS Foundation Weinstein Fellowship, after which she came back to her country with a project to assist the judiciary in developing court-connected mediation. This project began promoting court mediation with a seminar on mediation, organized in partnership with KIAC for stakeholders in the Justice Sector.
Following the recommendations of the Seminar, Ms. Uwicyeza prepared a technical assistance proposal to design and implement a court-connected mediation scheme. During the short period of one year of the JAMS Foundation grant, court mediation has taken off successfully in Rwanda.
International Commercial Arbitration for the Diploma in International Arbitration/ Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration in (2014)
Mediation Skills Training with the Centre for Effective Dispute resolution in (2013)
Entry Course in Arbitration by the Chartered Institute of Arbitration, Nigeria Branch

ADR Teaching and Mentoring

Ms. Uwicyeza coaches students of the online mediation course offered by Edwards Mediation Academy to select members of the Judiciary and commercial Bar in Rwanda.
In 2017, Ms. Uwicyeza presented at the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Conference on ADR in Africa.

Publications and Education

Publications

Ms. Uwicyeza co-authored The Law Governing Contracts in Rwanda in the Rwandan Commercial Law Books in 2013.

She authored “The Transformation of Arbitration in Africa: The Role of Arbitral Institutions,” Kluwer Law International in 2016.

In 2018, under the Court ADR Project, she wrote a mediation handbook in Kinyarwanda for court mediators.

Educational Qualifications

E.A, (Diplome d’Etudes Approfondies) in European Union Studies (1992)
LL.M in Private Law at the University of Rennes I, France (1991)
Bachelor’s Degree in Business Law at the University of Rennes I, France (1989)