ZIMBABWE will be under the spotlight this month when it hosts the Africa Electoral Justice Network conference (AEJN) where electoral processes are set to be discussed, five months after the country’s disputed elections.
This was revealed by Chief Justice Malaba yesterday while opening the 2024 legal year.
“As the nation celebrates a decade of the existence of the Constitution, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is happy to announce that Zimbabwe will host two important constitutional conferences during the course of the year,” he said.
“At the end of January 2024, the JSC will be hosting the Africa Electoral Justice Network. AEJN is a regional forum that brings together Judges and individuals who adjudicate electoral disputes in courts, tribunals, and judicial election management bodies from across the African continent.
He said the discussions, engagements, brainstorming and dialogue at this event will be centred on the promotion, nurturing, strengthening and consolidation of democracy through effective judicial practices in electoral matters.
The country hogged the limelight before, during and after its August 2023 polls which were described as neither free nor fair by several observer missions.
The country will also host the 7th edition of the Constitutional Jurisdictions of Africa, a biggest gathering of constitutional courts in Africa, which Zimbabwe will be hosting from October 30 to November 3 this year in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
Malaba said he was saddened by disparaging remarks made against the judiciary during the course of last year’s elections.
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“During the course of the elections period, disparaging and damaging remarks were made against the Judiciary in general and some Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court. The unwarranted aspersions stemmed from decisions which the courts had made,” he said
“What is more concerning was the fact that the disparaging remarks were made by some members of the legal profession who are expected to know better.”
He said JSC contacted members of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and some of the judicial challenges were resolved amicably.
Malaba also spoke on the performances of courts in 2013.
“The performance of the courts during the period under review has been good. In the superior courts, the year started with a total of 2021 cases carried over from 2022 but the year closed with 1381 cases. A total of 29 433 cases were received and 30 560 were completed and disposed of.
“All the courts reduced their backlog, some such as the Supreme Court and the High Court doing so with huge margins. The only court that saw its backlog rising at the end of the year was the Labour Court. Engagements with the Senior Judge of the Labour Court with a view to have the performance of that court improved will be undertaken,” he added.
