Arbitration pursuant to the Asylum Partnership Agreement (The Republic of Rwanda v. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

By Notice of Arbitration dated 24 November 2025, the Republic of Rwanda commenced arbitral proceedings against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland pursuant to Article 22 of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Rwanda and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Provision of an Asylum Partnership to Strengthen Shared International Commitments on the Protection of Refugees and Migrants and the PCA Arbitration Rules 2012. The Permanent Court of Arbitration acts as Registry in this arbitration pursuant to Article 1(3) of the PCA Arbitration Rules.

Case information

Name(s) of Claimant(s)	The Republic of Rwanda (State)
Name(s) of Respondent(s)	The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (State)
Names of Parties	-
Case number	2025-45
Administering institution	Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)
Case status	Pending
Type of case	Inter-state arbitration
Subject matter or economic sector	Other service
Procedural rules	Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012
Treaty or contract under which proceedings were commenced	Bilateral treaty Asylum Partnership Agreement Country A: Rwanda Country B: United Kingdom
Language of Proceeding	English
Seat of Arbitration (by Country)	-
Arbitrator(s), Conciliator(s), Other Neutral(s)	Judge Peter Tomka (Chairperson) Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Wahab Judge Joan Donoghue
Representatives of the Claimant(s)	Agent Dr. Emmanuel Ugirashebuja Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice Counsel Lord Verdirame KC Ms. Belinda McRae Twenty Essex
Representatives of the Respondent(s)	Agent Dr. Tamsin Stubbing Deputy Director, Resettlement & International Strategy, Home Office Legal Advisers Representative Mr. Daniel Hobbs Director General for Migration and Borders Group, Home Office Counsel Mr. Ben Juratowitch KC Ms. Naomi Hart Essex Court Chambers Ms. Alma Mozetič Twenty Essex
Representatives of the Parties
Number of Arbitrators in case	3
Date of commencement of proceeding	24 November 2025
Date of issue of final award	-
Length of Proceedings	Pending
Additional notes	-

Documents

Written submission

Statement of Claim

download | 27 January 2026 | English | 549.62KB

Statement of Defence

download | 27 February 2026 | English | 1.71MB

download | 05 March 2026 | English | 382.23KB

Notice of Arbitration

download | 24 November 2025 | English | 617.75KB

Response to the Notice of Arbitration

download | 12 December 2025 | English | 683.70KB

Procedural Documents

Procedural Order No. 1

download | 19 January 2026 | English | 251.94KB

Procedural Order No. 2

download | 11 March 2026 | English | 190.59KB

Press Release

Communiqué de presse - Initiation de la procédure d’arbitrage

download | 30 January 2026 | French | 174.59KB

Press Release - Hearing

download | 12 March 2026 | English | 174.59KB

Communiqué de presse - Audience

download | 12 March 2026 | French | 220.37KB

Press Release - Commencement of Arbitration

download | 30 January 2026 | English | 194.14KB

Press Release - Conclusion of Hearing

download | 27 March 2026 | English | 1.94MB

Communiqué de presse - Clôture de l’audience

download | 27 March 2026 | French | 1.94MB

Image

Tribunal in session

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 4.57MB

Arbitral Tribunal with Registry staff

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 4.68MB

Delegation of Rwanda

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 4.96MB

Delegation of the United Kingdom

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 5.52MB

Dr Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, Agent for Rwanda

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 4.18MB

Lord Verdirame KC, Counsel for Rwanda

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 3.94MB

Ms Belinda McRae, Counsel for Rwanda

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 4.25MB

Dr Tamsin Stubbing, Agent for the United Kingdom

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 4.52MB

Mr Ben Juratowitch KC, Counsel for the United Kingdom

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 4.14MB

Ms Naomi Hart, Counsel for the United Kingdom

download | 20 March 2026 | N/A | 4.44MB

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Case status

Type of case

Name(s) of claimant(s)

Name(s) of respondent(s)

Names of parties

Case number

Administering institution

Subject matter or economic sector

Procedural rules

Parties

Treaty or contract of proceedings

and and/or

Seat of arbitration

Arbitrator(s), Conciliator(s), Other Neutral(s)

Representatives of the claimant(s)

Representatives of the respondent(s)

Representatives of the parties

Year of commencement of proceeding

From To

Year of issue of award