FOREWORD
I am delighted to welcome the inaugural issue of the Zimbabwe Rule of Law Journal. The idea of establishing this Rule of Law Journal has largely been influenced by existing demand in the legal fraternity for a peer reviewed law journal with a national scope.
The aim of this Zimbabwe Rule of Law Journal is to make a significant contribution towards knowledge creation, raising general awareness on aspects of the law and instill informed scholarly debates. The journal is a joint endeavor between the International Commission of Jurists Africa Regional Programme and the Centre for Applied Legal Research (CALR). This journal is composed of articles and papers written by academics, legal practitioners and law students.
The rule of law is a foundational value and principle of our Constitution as set out in section 3. The Preamble of the Constitution recognises the need to entrench the rule of law because it underpins democratic governance. The rule of law is the means by which fundamental human rights are protected. It is therefore absolutely necessary that there be a way in which the legal profession is enabled to play its role in ensuring that the rule of law is maintained and promoted. This first issue contains articles on house demolitions in violation of s 74 of the Constitution, the right of access to the voters’ roll, fair labour standards, the justice delivery mandate of the Judicial Service Commission, the right to life and applicable criminal defences, employment of persons with disabilities, accountability of persons in high offices and public statements prejudicial to the State.
It is my hope that this journal will play an important role in nation building. It will offer information on rule of law issues and disseminate the jurisprudence of our courts and international and regional courts on this very vital subject. It will hopefully introduce, through the contributions by lawyers and other practitioners of their professional expertise, to the comparative and international dimensions of the rule of law principle and the comprehensive developments in this area. In this way this journal will seek to protect and promote the rule of law through critical analysis of judgments of the courts.
The current Constitution of Zimbabwe was adopted in 2013. Many of its provisions require interpretation by the courts in order to build a body of jurisprudence for the future. It can be said that with the coming into force of the 2013 Constitution and establishment of the Constitutional Court, the process of balancing the Court’s functional and institutional establishment has just began. There is a need to strike a proper balance between constitutional functions and the concrete power of the Court and between the objects and subjects of constitutional control. This journal can, with the contribution of many professionals, become a permanent, continual and systemic source of assessment of the work of our courts and provide invaluable insights into the working of our system of governance.
I wish to thank the many individuals who have made it possible for this Journal to be produced and congratulate those who have prepared the articles that make up this first issue. I wish to apologize in advance for any inadequacies that may be picked up in this issue. It is the first and all efforts will not be spared to improve subsequent issues in all respects.
Harare, February 2017
Justice MH Chinhengo, Chief Editor
ARTICLES
ACCESSING THE NATIONAL VOTERS’ ROLL THROUGH THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN ZIMBABWE
Justice Alfred Mavedzenge
FAIR LABOUR STANDARDS ELEVATED TO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: A NEW APPROACH IN ZIMBABWEAN LABOUR MATTERS.
Rodgers Matsikidze
ASSESSING THE JUSTICE DELIVERY MANDATE OF THE JUDICIAL SERVICE COMMISSION IN ZIMBABWE’S CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
James Tsabora1 and Shamiso Mtisi
LANGUAGE RIGHTS IN SECTION 6 OF THE ZIMBABWEAN CONSTITUTION: LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AFFIRMED AND ACCOMMODATED?
Innocent Maja
THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN AFRICA: LESSONS FROM ZIMBABWE
Serges Djoyou Kamga
PUBLIC STATEMENTS PREJUDICIAL TO THE STATE - Chilling freedom of expression to the bone with a chilling offence: Case note on Chimakure & Others v Attorney-General 2013 (2) ZLR 466 (S)
Geoffrey Feltoe and John Reid-Rowland
CRIMINAL LAW DEFENCES AND THE RIGHT TO LIFE IN THE NEW CONSTITUTION
Geoffrey Feltoe
HOUSE DEMOLITIONS IN ZIMBABWE: A CONSTITUTIONAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE
Tinashe Stephen Chinopfukutwa
THE NKANDLA JUDGMENT: LESSONS FOR ZIMBABWE
Sekai Saungweme
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