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now headed for the courts after Mr Godwills Masimirembwa who runs the college instructed his lawyers to institute legal proceedings against the LSZ at the High Court.
The LSZ, which claims it is a regulatory body of the legal profession vested with the statutory mandate to represent views of the legal profession and to maintain its integrity and status, says it does not recognise the ZILS and the diplomas it issues.
Mr Masimirembwa argues the LSZ has no jurisdiction over the diplomas and certificates offered by the ZILS.
Holders of diplomas from the ZILS do not intend to be legal practitioners with Mr Masimirembwa saying they “can be employed as legal officers, legal executives or company secretaries in the private and public sectors”.
“The Law Society of Zimbabwe’s jurisdiction is derived from statute. It applies to qualifications, which may lead the holder thereof to seek registration as a legal practitioner. This is not the case with the Zimbabwe Institute of Legal Studies’ diploma and certificate courses.
“The Zimbabwe Institute of Legal Studies is a registered institution in terms of the Manpower Planning and Development Act chapter 28:02. It is not answerable to the Law Society of Zimbabwe but to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education,” he said.
Mr Masimirembwa said there were colleges in the country offering similar courses but the LSZ was not raising any issues with them.
“Many people study for and obtain diplomas in law and related fields outside Zimbabwe and come back home and get employed not as legal practitioners, but in the myriad of fields of endeavour available in the public and private sector. Indeed we are aware of a local education institution, which is offering a foreign diploma in legal studies. The Law Society of Zimbabwe rightly has not objected to these diploma qualifications and neither subjected them to scrutiny. So why us?” said Mr Masimirembwa.
He added: “The answer is obvious. Their target is not the diplomas but the founder of the institute, for purely political reasons. We have now instructed our legal practitioners to take Tinoziva Bere (LSZ president) and the LSZ head on in the High Court. Their malicious and defamatory publications cannot go unchallenged.”
Mr Masimirembwa accused the LSZ of hiding behind the ZILS to attack his person.
“It is not a secret that the LSZ is opposed to Godwills Masimirembwa’s re-registration on purely political grounds. This fact will fully emerge in the fullness of time as Godwills Masimirembwa pursues his re-registration bid and exposes the LSZ’s double standards wherein it favours those whose ideological and philosophical dispositions are akin to those of the bulk of its leadership, but holds in disdain and oppresses those in similar circumstances, who hold different values from theirs. This can hardly be a commitment to justice and rule of law,” he said.
Prominent Harare lawyer, Mr Aston Musunga, yesterday said the LSZ had no jurisdiction over the ZILS.
“I am really surprised by the stance taken by the LSZ. The LSZ is there to govern legal practitioners registered by the High Court of Zimbabwe and has no jurisdiction over para-legals. Para-legals are such people like magistrates and prosecutors who are trained by Government. Masimirembwa’s college has been licensed by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and that is all he requires,” Mr Musunga said.
He added: “We view the conduct of the LSZ as personal vendetta against Masimirembwa and what he is trying to do for the good of this country.”
Mr Musunga said the country was in dire need of para-legals. The Council for Legal Education has also been sucked in the saga.
In a letter to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, the Council for Legal Education said it was not endowed with powers to sanction the named law based diplomas proposed by the ZILS.
“Ordinarily and previously, council has exercised this power in relation to law degrees offered within and outside our borders. Council has to date not been called to consider a legal qualification which is less than a law degree,” said Mr Rex Shana, chairperson for the Council for Legal Education.
He said the case “falls within the domain of the Secretary of Higher Education by virtue of section 9 of the Manpower Planning and Development Act”.
Efforts to get a comment from the LSZ were fruitless yesterday with its president Mr Bere saying he will only comment after getting a Press statement released to the media by Mr Masimirembwa.
Online Reporter