Online Reporter
ZIMBABWEANS rely strongly on having an efficient and fair Judiciary, where judges and magistrates can deal with criminals, and do so while respecting their rights by insisting on proper evidence, and can sort out the growing number of civil disputes when citizens find themselves disagreeing and need a neutral umpire following the rules to enforce rights.
Opening the legal year this week, Chief Justice Luke Malaba noted that while all courts had to deal with higher volumes of cases last year, judges in the superior courts and the magistrates, who handle most of the criminal cases, kept the backlogs under control and in some areas managed to make significant progress in cutting backlogs.
This was more than just hard work by the presiding officers of courts.
There was recognition that more efficient administration helped, along with innovations such as a research department in the Judicial Services Commission.
Helping to ensure that judges and magistrates were better supported meant that they could be more efficient.
In addition specialist courts, a feature of the Zimbabwean judiciary under Chief Justice Malaba, continued to be set up with special courts able to deal with drug offences. These specialist courts help to bring together judicial officers, prosecutors and others, so building up a fund of knowledge able to handle more cases more efficiently.
The fast growing economy has a couple of downsides, and one involves more work for the courts. With more wealth in the country, there more for thieves and fraudsters to try and steal, although one would think that instead they could follow those creating wealth and turn their inventive brains to legitimate and productive ways of making their share of a decent life.
The rise in economic activity also means that more civil disputes are certain to arise. Some may be just try-ons, and we have seen judges dismissing those pretty promptly. But many others are genuine disputes that need an authoritative referee, who can untangle the different stories and reach a fair and just conclusion. Others involve people exercising their rights and because the judges are good at that as well, our society is enhanced.
Magistrates are seeing a boom in their civil work. While the judges of the High Court get the complex cases involving points of law, the civil magistrates are at the cutting edge of the disputes that can make life unbearable or very difficult for the weak and poor.
So we see them having to deal with gender violence, abusive partners, difficult neighbours and friends falling out. They are the one who need to get delinquent fathers of children to pay a fair share of the costs of bringing up their kids. Much of the work may seem trivial, but for those going down to the courts, they are getting real solutions for real problems.
This effectiveness might well explain some of the backlog growing; more people get to hear how the worst damage in dysfunctional families and communities can be minimised. And when you come down to it, this matters to a lot of people. These lowest level civil courts perhaps need a bit more support, like better premises at least in Harare where they are relegated to temporary overflow buildings used by Royal Air Force staff in the Second World War.
The magistrates are a vital part of this restorative network, but perhaps could be helped by more social services support staff and back-up from others, who want to see family and community conflict resolved.
Midlands still has no resident judge of the High Court, relying on judges on circuit. Part of the problem is that the province is spread out with the major centres of population in the Gweru area, if you include other central cities and towns, and the Gokwe area in the far north.
Last year extra circuit judges were assigned to both Gweru and Gokwe when backlogs became intolerable, and it would seem that a permanent upgrade to a resident judge might well require two centres before significant progress was made.
One important part of Chief Justice Malaba’s address was that while good progress is being made, more is always needed when you compare what you have with the ideal. Just being better, even a lot better, is very helpful but must hide the need to be continue moving forward.
Zimbabwe gives the Chief Justice a dual role. That judge heads the whole judiciary, but also chairs the Judicial Service Commission, which deals with the administrative nitty gritty of the roll out of justice and has representation of the wide range of the legal profession, making it a solid back up for the frontline of the courts.
In many ways, the rising workload of judges and magistrates is a signal appreciation of the role they play, and the willingness of most Zimbabweans, faced with the aftermath of a criminal action or needing to have their rights upheld and family, community and business disputes settled prefer to turn to the courts rather than take unilateral action themselves.
