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Legal
Monitor - Issue 37
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
March 22, 2010
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A senior Magistrate
has recused himself from presiding over the trial of a legislator
following interference from a senior police officer in a fresh attack
on the judiciary.
Magistrate Edwin Marecha
was scheduled to preside over the trial of Lupane East MP Hon. Njabuliso
Mguni, who is accused of publishing or communicating false statements
prejudicial to the State at a meeting organised by Lupane Agenda
in his constituency last year.
However, the trial failed
to commence because Magistrate Marecha recused himself after indicating
that Detective Inspector Chakaoma, who is the officerin- charge
of Law and Order in Lupane had telephoned him before the matter
went to court.
Detective Inspector Chakaoma,
who was involved in the investigation of Mguni's case, allegedly
telephoned Magistrate Marecha to discuss the issues involved instead
of the normal procedure in which the prosecutor places his case
before a Magistrate in open court.
"Magistrate Marecha
said Detective Inspector Chakaoma should have telephoned the prosecution
office and not him and therefore indicated that it would be prejudicial
for him to sit and try the matter and thus recused himself,"
said Mguni's lawyer Matshobana Ncube of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLHR). "The prosecution has to liaise with the provincial
and regional representative of the Attorney General's office to
see that a new Magistrate is appointed to deal with the matter,"
he added.
Magistrate Marecha becomes
the latest victim among members of the legal profession to face
such interference in the execution of their duties. Actions like
these have brought the administration of justice into disrepute.
In recent years, Magistrates,
Judges, prosecutors and lawyers, particularly those handling human
rights-related cases, have had to grapple with an upsurge in threats,
harassment and intimidation during the exercise of their duties.
ZLHR executive director
Irene Petras condemned the unwarranted interference into judicial
officers' duties, which she said were calculated to bring the administration
of justice into disrepute.
"It is part of a
wider, deliberate, systematic and sustained general attack on the
judiciary to manipulate it, reduce its independence and weaken national
institutions of protection that are vital for the restoration of
the rule of law and democracy," said Petras.
Petras said
the police and State institutions should ensure that the judiciary
remained free from political or other interference as enshrined
in Article 1 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence
of the Judiciary (1985) and Section 79B of the Constitution
of Zimbabwe, which states that: "In the exercise of judicial
authority a member of the judiciary shall not be subject to the
direction or control of any person or authority . . . "
The ZLHR executive
director called upon the transitional coalition government to promptly
investigate and prosecute the alleged interference on the exercise
of Magistrate Marecha's Judicial Functions.
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