[Bill-Watch] Constitution Watch 7/2014 of 28th July [Constitutional Appointments: Anti-Corruption Commission & Other Commissions & Judges ]

[Veritas Bill Watch]

CONSTITUTION WATCH 7/2014
[28th July 2014]
Update on Constitutional Appointments: Anti-Corruption Commission 
& Other Constitutional Commissions and Supreme Court
Parliament Invites Nominations of Candidates for Appointment to
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission 
The weekend press contained advertisements from Parliament calling on the
public to nominate persons to be considered for appointment to the Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission [ZACC]. 
Closing date  
The closing date for submission of nominations is 31st August.  
Submission of nominations  
Nomination material must consist of: 
.        a completed nomination form [Soft copies of the nomination form and
Parliament's advertisement are available from Veritas at the addresses given
at the end of this bulletin; also on Parliament's website
www.parlzim.gov.zw, under Publications]
.        the candidate's CV 
.        a typewritten submission [no more than two A4 pages] stating why
the nominee is a suitable candidate. 
Nominations must be addressed to the Clerk of Parliament in envelopes
clearly marked with the name of the Commission and must either be posted,
hand delivered or emailed to:
The Clerk of Parliament
Parliament of Zimbabwe
Parliament Building
Cnr. K. Nkrumah Avenue and Third Street
P.O. Box CY 298
Causeway, Harare
Email:  <mailto:clerk at parlzim.gov.zw> clerk at parlzim.gov.zw 
Appointments to be made: Chairperson and eight Commission members
The terms of office of all eight ordinary members of ZACC expired at the end
of 2013.  The current chairperson's term of office expires on 31st August.
The President therefore needs to appoint a chairperson and eight commission
members.
Chairperson  The chairperson must be appointed by the President after
consultation with Parliament's Committee on Standing Rules and Orders
[CSRO].  This consultation must comply with section 339(3) of the
Constitution, which states that the President must: 
.        inform the CSRO in writing who he has in mind for the chair and why
.        give the CSRO a reasonable opportunity to make recommendations or
representations about the proposed appointment, and
.        give careful consideration to any recommendations or
representations the CSRO may make.  
The President is not, however, obliged to appoint a person recommended by
CSRO; it is up to him. 
Eight Commission members  The President must appoint the eight Commission
members from a list of at least twelve names submitted to him by the CSRO
after completion of the preliminary procedures required by section 237 of
the Constitution, which started with the Parliament's publication of the
advertisement calling for nominations from the public [see further below].
Note: Parliament's advertisement came a few days after the Minister of Home
Affairs made a Ministerial statement in the National Assembly attempting to
explain how it had come to pass that since the end of 2013 ZACC had been
without lawfully appointed members apart from its chairperson, whose term of
office is due to expire at the end of August.  MPs were not impressed.
[Soft copy of Minister's statement available from Veritas at the addresses
given at the end of this bulletin.]
Procedure after receipt of nominations
After the closing date for nominations, the process will be the same as for
the appointments to the Human Rights Commission and other independent
Commissions described in Constitution Watch 3/2014 of 5th April.  So the
next step will be public interviews of prospective candidates by the CSRO on
a date to be advised.  After that the CSRO must come up with a list of at
least 12 persons and submit it to the President.  The President must then
appoint the eight members of the Commission from this list; there is no
provision for him to call on the CSRO to repeat the procedure and come up
with another list.    
Gender balance  A highly relevant factor, although not mentioned in the
advertisement, is that section 17 of the Constitution requires that at least
half the members of ZACC and every other commission be women.  This is
something that will have to be taken into account by the CSRO when compiling
its list of recommended candidates and the President when making the
appointments.  
Qualifications required   Section 254 of the Constitution provides that all
members of ZACC must be chosen for their integrity and their knowledge of
and experience in administration or the prosecution or investigation of
crime or for their general suitability for appointment.  It also requires
that there must be at least one legal practitioner and one accountant [each
with at least 7 years' experience] and at least one person with at least 10
years' experience in the investigation of crime.
Functions of ZACC  Section 255 of the Constitution confers the following
functions on ZACC:
(a)  to investigate and expose cases of corruption in the public and private
sectors;
(b)  to combat corruption, theft, misappropriation, abuse of power and other
improper conduct in the public and private sectors;
(c)  to promote honesty, financial discipline and transparency in the public
and private sectors;
(d)  to receive and consider complaints from the public and to take such
action in regard to the complaints as it considers appropriate;
(e)  to direct the Commissioner-General  of  Police to investigate cases of
suspected corruption and to report to the Commission on the results of any
such investigation;
(f)   to refer matters to the National Prosecuting Authority for
prosecution;
(g)  to require assistance from members of the Police Service and other
investigative agencies of the State;  and
(h)  to make recommendations to the Government and other persons on measures
to enhance integrity and accountability and prevent improper conduct in the
public and private sectors.
Public Interviews of Candidates for Appointment to
Other Constitutional Commissions: No Announcement Yet
Parliament has not yet announced a date for public interviews by the
Committee on Standing Rules and Orders of candidates nominated by the public
for appointment as founding members of the new Zimbabwe Gender Commission
and National Peace and Reconciliation Commission or to fill vacancies on the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Human Rights Commission and    The closing
date for submission of nominations by members of the public was 23rd May
[see Constitution Watch 3/2014 of 5th April for details].  
Progress on Judicial Appointments
Three Supreme Court judgeships - names submitted to President
The public interviews of ten candidates for appointment to the Supreme Court
took place as scheduled on 15th July.  The interviews were conducted by the
Judicial Service Commission, presided over by Chief Justice Chidyausiku.
All ten candidates were interviewed during a sitting that lasted well into
the evening.  
The Commission has submitted the required list of nine candidates to the
President.  The President's decision is awaited.  
Three High Court judgeships
The Judicial Service Commission has not yet announced a date for public
interviews of candidates for appointment to the three vacancies on the High
Court bench.  The closing date for submission of nominations by members of
the public was 14th April.
[For further detail on judicial appointments see Court Watch 5/2014 of 17th
March, 10/2014 of 8th July and 11/2014 of 10th July.]
 
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