[Bill-Watch] Court Watch 13/2014 of 18th August [Further Call for Nominations for High Court Judgeships]

[Veritas Bill Watch]

COURT WATCH 13/2014
[18th August 2014]
Further Nominations Invited for Judicial Appointments 
Six New High Court Judges Now Wanted
 
In March the Judicial Service Commission [JSC] published advertisements
calling on the public to submit nominations to fill three vacancies on the
High Court bench.  The closing date was 14th April.  Nominations were
received from the President and members of the public but the public
interviews of candidates have not yet taken place because the JSC has
declared three further vacancies and said interviews for all six vacancies
will be conducted at a later date.  
On Friday 15th August the JSC published press advertisements: 
·        notifying three additional vacancies on the High Court bench,
increasing to six the total number of vacancies to be filled;
·        issuing a fresh invitation to members of the public to nominate
suitably qualified persons to fill the vacancies;
·        giving close of business on Monday 15th September as the deadline
for submission of nominations.  
[Copy of advertisement available from the addresses given at the end of this
bulletin]
There is no need to resubmit nominations previously submitted in response to
the advertisement of 14th March.   
Procedure for Nominations from the Public
Deadline  The deadline for submission of nominations is close of business on
Monday 15th September.
The nomination form  The nomination form provided by the JSC should be used.
It is obtainable from the office of the Secretary of the JSC, Old Supreme
Court Building, corner Kwame Nkrumah Ave/Third St, Harare OR from the office
of a Provincial Magistrate in charge of a province.  It is also available on
the JSC website  <http://www.jsc.org.zw> www.jsc.org.zw.  [Veritas can also
email you a copy – see addresses at the end of this bulletin.]
Curriculum vitae  The candidate’s CV is also required.
Submission of completed nomination forms  Completed nomination forms [one
form for each nominee], with the nominee’s curriculum vitae attached, must
be submitted to the JSC at the address given above. 
Qualifications Required for Appointment as a High Court Judge
The JSC advertisement sets out the qualifications for appointment to these
positions, as laid down by section 179 of the Constitution.  The
qualifications can be summed up as follows:
A High Court judge must: 
·        be at least 40 years old, and 
·        be “a fit and proper person to hold office as a judge”
·        be or have been a judge of a court of unlimited civil or criminal
jurisdiction in a country in which English is an officially recognised
language and the common law is Roman-Dutch [e.g. South Africa] or English
[e.g. Zambia] and English is an officially recognised language: OR
·        be currently and have been for at least 7 years, whether
continuously or not, qualified to practise as a legal practitioner: 
§  whether or not he or she is a Zimbabwean citizen, in a country in which
the common law is Roman-Dutch and English is an officially recognised
language [e.g., South Africa] OR
§  if he or she is a Zimbabwean citizen, in a country in which the common
law is English and English is an officially recognised language [England,
Zambia].  
Comment:  This means that a Zimbabwean citizen with at least 7 years’
standing as a legal practitioner in, say, England or Zambia can be appointed
as a High Court judge without being qualified to practise law in Zimbabwe
and without having any qualification in Roman-Dutch law, which is the common
law of Zimbabwe.  
After the Closing Date
After the 15th September deadline, and in accordance with the new procedure
required by section 180(2) of the Constitution, the JSC must:
·        conduct public interviews of prospective candidates, and 
·        prepare a list of three qualified candidates for each position – in
other words, a list of eighteen candidates for the current six vacancies,
and
·        submit the list to the President.
The President then makes appointments from the list, unless he considers
that none of the persons on the list are “suitable for appointment”.  If he
considers that none are suitable, he must communicate that to the JSC and
require it to submit a further list of qualified persons, from which he must
then make his appointments.  
Justice Makarau, Secretary to the JSC, has said that the interviews for all
six positions will be conducted as soon as possible after the 15th September
deadline for submission of further nominations.
Comment:  Both the submission of nominations by members of the public and
the public interview process are innovations introduced by the present
Constitution. 
Another new aspect is that now the President cannot appoint someone whose
name has not been submitted by the JSC.  Under the former Constitution the
President merely had to consult the JSC before making judicial appointments,
but was free to reject its advice and appoint someone it did not recommend.

 
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take
legal responsibility for information supplied
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