adminRay Bande in MUTARE
THE Attorney-General’s Office has been severed from the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to become an independent statutory body, with the Master of High Court soon to follow, as part of a move designed to enhance the justice delivery system in the country.
Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said yesterday that the AG’s office, which had hitherto been operating under his purview, was now a separate entity along with its three divisions which include the Civil Division, the Legal Advice Division and the Legislative Drafting Division.
The Attorney-General acts as the principal legal adviser to Government and is responsible for acting for the Government in civil actions in the courts, such as when a ministry is sued, and drafts the legislation that the Government needs to gazette through statutory instruments or bring to Parliament in the form of Bills, processes that frequently require multiple drafts.
Speaking at a strategic planning review workshop for his ministry in Mutare, Minister Ziyambi said through his ministry’s Permanent Secretary Mrs Virginia Mabiza: “The Attorney-General has moved out of the Ministry to become a statutory body. This to some extent will affect the operations of the Ministry. It is an important factor to consider for the purposes of this review workshop.
“In the same vein, we also have the Master of the High Court who moved from the Judicial Service Commission to join the Ministry in November last year. The Master’s Office will soon become a statutory body and we are at an advanced stage of processing the relevant legal documents.
“Clearly, this leaves the Ministry with a number of statutory and independent commissions whose legal frameworks are administered by the Minister of Justice.”
Minister Ziyambi highlighted some of the key achievements of the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry in the justice delivery system in the country.
“The Ministry has made great strides in making sure that justice is accessible for all. This includes the continued decentralisation of the Legal Aid Directorate for the benefit of the indigent members of our society.
“The Legal Aid Directorate has decentralised to all 10 provinces.
“In addition, the department has now opened three district offices with a plan to open three more district offices every year. In line with the desire to ensure provision of access to justice for all, the Judicial Services Commission under our Governance Thematic Area in the NDS1 policy has also continued the decentralisation of the Courts to the districts.
“Recently, a Magistrates Court was opened in Lupane. The Commercial Division of the High Court was also opened in Harare. The Judicial Service Commission also unveiled the Integrated Electronic Case Management System that enables litigants to file processes online, with the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and the Commercial Court leading the first phase of the programme,” he said.
The strategic planning review workshop was vital as its gave the Ministry a chance to review its performance.
It was also an opportunity for the Ministry to review its work with the view of coming up with new strategies in the implementation of its objectives in line with the Vision 2030 agenda and National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
The workshops key deliverables that are expected to come out of this exercise include a Reviewed Strategic Plan, Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, Annual Plan, the Minister’s contract and that of the Permanent Secretary.
Online Reporter