[Bill-Watch] COURT WATCH 3/2014 of 17th February [Judicial Service Commission and Improved Court Performance]

[Veritas Bill Watch]

COURT WATCH 3/2014 
[17th February 2014]
Judicial Service Commission and Improved Court Performance
New Members of the Judicial Service Commission
Under the new Constitution the Judicial Service Commission has been expanded
to twelve members, double its former maximum of six.  Its responsibilities
have been increased, and it "must conduct its business in a just, fair and
transparent manner" [Constitution, sections 189-191].   New members of the
Commission were sworn in by the Chief Justice at a ceremony at the
Constitutional Court on 3rd February.  The Commission's membership is now as
follows: 
Ex officio members 
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku
Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba
Judge-President George Chiweshe
Attorney-General [vacant, awaiting appointment of Attorney-General]
Chief Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe
Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission Dr Mariyawanda Nzuwah
One judge nominated by judges
Justice Happias Zhou 
Three legal practitioners designated by Law Society of Zimbabwe
Mr Lloyd Mhishi 
Mrs Priscilla Madzonga 
Mr Josphat Tshuma 
Law professor/senior lecturer designated by university law teachers
[Vacant] 
Accountant designated by Public Accountants and Auditors Board
Mrs Priscilla Mutembwa. 
Judicial Service Commission as Administrator of the Judicial Service
The Judicial Service Commission was originally an advisory and consultative
body only.  But this changed dramatically with the coming into force of the
Judicial Service Act in June 2010.  The Act severed the magistracy from the
Public Service and resulted in the Commission assuming responsibility for
the administration and supervision of the Judicial Service as a whole
[including control of the funds appropriated by Parliament for the Judicial
Service, court property and donated funds]; this had previously been the
responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.  Similarly, the Commission took
over from the Public Service Commission the responsibility of fixing the
conditions of service of the magistracy and the support staff of the
Judicial Service.  These were major steps towards the achievement of a
judiciary independent at all its levels.  .
The new Judicial Service set-up has resulted in improved infrastructure and
working conditions, higher morale amongst judicial officers and their
support staff and increasing efficiency in the court system.  The donor
community and other benefactors have shown greater readiness to assist a
self-administered judicial service.  Gradual progress has been reflected in
addresses given by the Chief Justice at the annual January ceremonies to
open the legal year in 2011, 2012 and 2013.  In January this year, too, the
Chief Justice was able to report continuing progress, as follows.
Chief Justice's Address at the Opening of the 2014 Legal Year
On 13th January, in Harare, Chief Justice Chidyausiku presided over the High
Court ceremony to mark the opening of the legal year.  He described the
ceremony as:
"an acknowledgement by the judiciary that judicial authority derives from
the people of Zimbabwe and that the judiciary is in consequence thereof
accountable to the people in its performance of the judicial function."  
The primary obligation of the courts, he said, is to give effective service
to all litigants that seek justice from them.
Theme  The Chief Justice therefore made Effective Service Delivery the theme
of his address.
Performance of the Courts in 2013
Elaborating on this theme, the Chief Justice dealt with the performance of
the courts during 2013, starting with the highest court in the land, the
Constitutional Court, and descending through the court hierarchy.
Constitutional Court 
This new court, created by the new Constitution, came into being on 22nd
May, with both appellate and original jurisdiction in constitutional
matters.  It will eventually be an entirely separate court with its own nine
judges, but until 22nd May 2020 judges of the Supreme Court must double as
judges of the Constitutional Court [Constitution, Sixth Schedule, paragraph
18].  
The court inherited responsibility for finalising the Supreme Court's 30
uncompleted constitutional cases and by the end of 2014 had received 81 new
cases, of which 50 were lodged between June and September - an influx, the
Chief Justice said, which was clearly occasioned by the July harmonised
elections.  24 out of these 111 cases were disposed of, leaving the court to
start 2014 with a backlog of 87 cases.  
Remedying the backlog: The Chief Justice said that non-prosecution of
constitutional cases had been a major contributing factor to the backlog
[this included land cases brought under the old Constitution in which there
had been little movement]; he was referring to cases lodged for "ulterior
motives, with no intention whatsoever of pursuing the matter to finality".
[Such cases tend to leave proceedings in lower courts indefinitely
suspended, or lower court decisions unimplemented, to the benefit of
appellant but the prejudice of the other party and the court system.].
Accordingly, he said, the court's Registrar was working on reforms intended
to: 
.        achieve "swift and smooth movement" of constitutional cases, and
.        ensure that "all approaches to the Constitutional Court are genuine
requests to have a constitutional injustice redressed and the Constitution
respected".  
The Law Society of Zimbabwe and the offices of the Attorney-General and
Prosecutor-General would be consulted before the reforms were implemented.
CJ's Assessment of this performance: "too early to judge the performance of
the Constitutional Court, as 2013 was a unique year for that court".   
Comment on failures to give court's written reasons for decisions reached:
The Chief Justice did not mention the fact that the court has delivered its
written reasons for judgment in only four of the 24 cases disposed of [the
Mawarire case, Judgment CCZ 1/2013, and three others, including Chimakure &
Kahiya, and Brian James].  Nor did he say when, or if, reasoned judgements
will be provided in the other 20.  This means that interested persons - the
parties, other courts handling similar cases, other arms of government, the
legal profession and members of the public - must do without the benefit of
the court's reasons for deciding these 20 cases the way it did.  These cases
include: the four applications, consolidated into one for the purposes of
argument, that gave rise to the court's crucial upholding of the harmonised
election proclamation, the election date and the use of the Presidential
Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to allow the election to go ahead; the
Mawere case [significance of the right to dual citizenship in the new
Constitution]; and the Bukaibenyu case [ZEC's denial of effective voting
rights to Zimbabweans in the Diaspora].  [See Court Watch 12/2013 of 3rd
September 2013 on the vital importance of reasoned judgments, particularly
from appellate courts and courts of last resort.]
Supreme Court  
With the number of judges increased to nine by new appointments and the
return to duty of Justice Gwaunza from international duties in the Hague, a
clearance rate of 78% for the year was achieved.  At this rate, the court
would be dealing with current appeals by mid-2014.  
CJ's Assessment of this performance:  "remarkable", "pleasing".
High Court
Six new judges had been appointed, but all divisions of the court remained
dogged by backlogs.   
CJ's assessment of this performance: The "substantial imbalance" between
case inflow and outflow is a "cause for concern", and he and the
Judge-President are considering strategies to ease the workload.  
Labour Court
Four additional judges had been appointed, but more cases were being filed
with the court than the number of judgments and orders coming out of it.
The Chief Justice pinpointed the causes of the backlog as being:
.        the uneven flow of work caused by the structure of the Labour
Court, and
.        the number of bad decisions by arbitrators appointed by the
Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.  These sometimes
outrageous and illogical arbitral awards were the cause of most of the
appeals in both the Labour Court and the Supreme Court.  While the
arbitrators might be experienced in labour matters, they appeared to need
extensive professional development in computing compensation for breach of
contract.  
CJ's assessment of this performance: as in the case of the High Court, a
"cause for concern".  Also, "the institution of arbitration that is built
into the procedure of the Labour Court may need revisiting at policy level".
Administrative Court
The court's work had tailed off since the 2005 constitutional amendment
restricting the court's jurisdiction over land acquisition cases.  It now
had only one judge.  Its case clearance rate for 2013 stood at 43%.
CJ's assessment of this performance: "can be improved upon".
Magistrates courts
By the end of the year the backlog had been completely eradicated.  This had
been achieved despite unimproved conditions of service and the fact that
there were nearly fifty vacant posts in the approved magisterial
establishment of 250.  
CJ's assessment of this performance: "commendable . The performance of the
magistrates' courts continued throughout 2013 to exceed my expectations".
The Chief Justice also congratulated the staff of the National Prosecuting
Authority and the Prisons and Correctional Service on the part they had
played in achieving the turnaround in the magistrates courts.
Performance of the justice sector as a whole  The Chief Justice summed up as
follows: "Despite limited resources, as a sector, the justice delivery
sector performed beyond my expectations and i am happy to report as such to
the nation."  He made available printouts of detailed statistics of
performance of all the courts discussed in his address.
Generosity of Donors
The Chief Justice made a special point of acknowledging with gratitude
assistance received from the Royal Danish Embassy Office in Zimbabwe and
from Plan International.  With their assistance, construction of four
pre-fabricated courthouses at Guruve, Murehwa, Mutoko and Tsholotsho had
been completed, two others at at Norton and Esigodini were almost complete,
and plans were well under way to construct a further 30 within the next two
years.
Documents Available from Veritas in Soft Copy
[see addresses at end of bulletin]
Constitution of Zimbabwe
Chief Justice's speech on 13th January [including schedule of statistics]
2014 Court Calendar for Supreme Court and High Court [GN 609/2013]
2014 Court Calendar for Labour Court [GN 608/2013]
Constitutional Court judgment in Mawarire case [judgment CCZ 1/2013 - the
election date decision, given on 31st May 2013]
 
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