Faustin Ntezilyayo (born 20 August 1962) is 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 referendum on May 26, 2003. It replaced the older Constitution of 1991. The Const ...

and president of the High Council of the Judiciary from 6 December 2019, 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 Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometr ...

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

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp ( nl, Universiteit Antwerpen) is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UA'', but ''UAntwerpen'' is more recently used. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 stud ...

(Belgium), a Master of Laws (LLM) in fiscal law from

Free University of Brussels University of Brussels may refer to several institutions in Brussels, Belgium: Current institutions * Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking university established as a separate entity in 1970 *Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), a D ...

(Belgium), a Master of Arts in international affairs (international trade policy), from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language 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 serve returning World ...

(Canada); and a Bachelor of Laws from the

National University of Rwanda The National University of Rwanda (NUR; rw, Kaminuza nkuru y’u Rwanda, french: Université nationale du Rwanda, UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government ...

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 Duke University School of Law (Duke Law School or Duke 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 th ...

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

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

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

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

; the

Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...

(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 ( rw, Banki Nkuru Y'u Rwanda, french: Banque Nationale du Rwanda) is the central bank of Rwanda. The bank was founded in 1964. The current governor of the bank is John Rwangombwa. Location It is quartered at the N ...

(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 , image = , imagesize = , caption = , motto = , established = 30 November 2001 , country = 6 member states of the East African Community , location = Arusha, Tanzania , coordinates ...

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 Eliza ...

(FCIArb) * Member of the Panel of Conciliators of the World Bank’s

International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is an international arbitration institution established in 1966 for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and States. ICSID is part of ...

(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 National University of Rwanda faculty East African Court of Justice judges Rwandan judges Rwandan lawyers Rwandan expatriates in Belgium Living people