Hearsay evidence in criminal matters under Rwandan law: a critical and comparative study

Abstract

The early debates by different scholars on use and exclusion of Hearsay rule and Evidence in Criminal Matters suggested that hearsay evidence have strong impact on fairness of justice process and that the hearsay rule is a product of a judicial desire to ensure that only reliable evidence is put to the trier of fact. This research provides a criticism on hearsay evidence under Rwandan criminal judicial proceedings in comparison with other jurisdictions specifically USA. It (this research) has the effect that it is useful for Rwandan criminal justice and court of trials, judicial policy makers to commit and adopt the strongest measures to end the promotion of hearsay evidence since it can be a tool that can prejudice the administration of justice. This research also demonstrates how hearsay rules can be introduce into laws and regulation in Rwanda and the implication of exclusion rules in the conduct of criminal justice process. Additionally, this research also expressed via recommendation, the approaches that may be employed to design better policies in elimination of use of hearsay rules under Rwandan criminal justice.