Faustin Ntezilyayo (born 20 August 1962) is the former chief justice/president of the

Supreme Court of Rwanda The Supreme Court of Rwanda is the highest court of Rwanda, as defined by Article 143 of the 2003 Constitution of Rwanda The Constitution of Rwanda was adopted by Rwandan constitutional referendum, 2003, referendum on May 26, 2003. It replaced ...

and president of the High Council of the Judiciary from 6 December 2019 to 3 December 2024 replacing Sam Rugege who ended his term in December 2019.

Background and education

Ntezilyayo was born on 20 August 1962 in the present-day

Kamonyi District Kamonyi is a district (''akarere'') in Southern Province, Rwanda. Its capital is Kamonyi, also sometimes known as Gihinga. Sectors Kamonyi district is divided into 12 sectors (''imirenge''): Gacurabwenge, Karama, Kayenzi, Kayumbu, Mugina, ...

. He holds a Ph.D. in law from the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp () is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UAntwerp''. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third-largest university in Flanders. ...

(Belgium), a Master of Laws (LLM) in fiscal law from Free University of Brussels (Belgium), a Master of Arts in international affairs (international trade policy), from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

(Canada); and a Bachelor of Laws from the

National University of Rwanda The National University of Rwanda (NUR; , , UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government in cooperation with the Congregation of the Dominicans from the Provin ...

Career

Ntezilyayo started his career as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the National University of Rwanda in 1986. He has been a visiting scholar at

Duke University School of Law The Duke University School of Law is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit that began in 1868 as the ...

(USA), 1999 (US); a visiting lecturer at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

(Canada), (2007–2008); and a consultant with the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

; the

Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to ''La Francophonie'', , sometimes also called International Organisation of in English) is an international organization representing where there is a notable affiliation with French language and culture. ...

(OIF) and the

United Nations Institute for Training and Research The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations system. UNITAR provides training and capacity development activities to assist mainly developing countries with special attention ...

(UNITAR). Ntezilyayo served in various positions in the government of Rwanda. He was Minister of Justice from October 1996 to January 1999; vice governor of the

National Bank of Rwanda The National Bank of Rwanda (, ) is the central bank of Rwanda. The bank was founded in 1964. The current governor of the bank is Soraya Munyana Hakuziyaremye. Location It is quartered at the National Bank of Rwanda Building, on KN6 Avenue in ...

(2000–2003); managing director of the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (2003–2005); and senior legal advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Trade (1996). He is also familiar with the private sector, having been the managing director of a microfinance bank (i.e. AGASEKE BANK), (2011–2013) and an arbitration practitioner. Ntezilyayo was a Judge of the East African Court of Justice from April 2013 to March 2020. He was sworn in as Chief Justice of Rwanda on 6 December 2019.

Other activities

* Fellow of the

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (abbreviated as CIArb) is a professional organisation representing the interests of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practitioners. Founded on 1 March 1915, it was granted a royal charter by Queen Elizabe ...

(FCIArb) * Member of the Panel of Conciliators of the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

Footnote

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ntezilyayo, Faustin 1962 births Chief justices People from Kamonyi District University of Antwerp alumni Université libre de Bruxelles alumni Carleton University alumni National University of Rwanda alumni Academic staff of the National University of Rwanda East African Court of Justice judges Rwandan judges Rwandan lawyers Rwandan expatriates in Belgium Living people