<p>Domestication and compliance with international human rights laws are generally conceptualized as endpoints that states linearly strive to achieve. Missing is a consideration of the impact a state’s formal and informal institutional legacies have on both. Legalization and compliance studies also cannot explain why states engage in rule by law practices. Rule by law studies focus on politicians’ use of the law to curb dissent, with little consideration given to the lasting influence of institutions and norms on behavior. Legalization, compliance, and rule by law are better framed as interrelated components of law as practice, which envisages law as a multidirectional process informed by a country’s institutional history. These legacies shape the behavior of those involved in policymaking over time. This study demonstrates that history of authoritarian rule and the genocide in Rwanda continuously obstruct the institutionalization of civil and political rights and enable the government’s selective compliance with same.</p>